Main suspect who allegedly issued death threat to senior customs officer surrenders to police in Sibu

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Fisol (centre) and Sibu police chief ACP Stanley Jonathan Ringgit (right) at the press conference.

SIBU (Nov 30): Police have arrested the main suspect who allegedly issued a death threat against a senior customs officer.

Sarawak Deputy Police Commissioner Datuk Fisol Salleh who confirmed the arrest, said the 35-year-old suspect who is unemployed, was arrested at 9.10am today after he turned himself in at the Sungai Merah police station here.

“We believed the case is solved with the arrest of the suspect. We will apply for a remand tomorrow and the suspect will be brought to Kuching for further investigation,” he told a press conference at Sibu police headquarters here today.

“We will continue our probe (to determine) whether he is also involved in gangsterism and smuggling syndicate because based on our investigation, he had been arrested under Prevention of Crime Act (Poca) and involved in seven other cases including house break-ins and criminal intimidation,” he added.

Fisol said the suspect was tested positive for amphetamine and methamphetamine when a test was conducted on him.

“We want the public to know that we are looking at such cases seriously as it involved death threat against enforcement officers,” he stressed.

On Nov 26, the Customs officer received a brown envelope containing two live bullets and a note that read “got two bullets, one long one short, which one you want” at around 12pm at his house in Jalan Matang, Kuching.

The customs officer then lodged a police report at the Gita police station which led to the arrest of three men aged between 35 and 39-years-old by the Sarawak police’s D9 unit on the same day.

Yesterday, the Royal Malaysian Customs Department director-general Datuk Abdul Latif Abdul Kadir in a statement had said that the threat came after the senior officer led operations at Rajang Port in Sibu and also Bintulu Port between Oct 21 and Nov 13.

He disclosed that more than RM2.64 million worth of goods involving more than RM655,000 in tax were seized in both operations.

The case is being investigated under Section 507 of the Penal Code for criminal intimidation via anonymous communication.