SEREMBAN, MALAYSIA: Members of a syndicate thought they had the authorities fooled when they smuggled in 30.3kg of ketamine concealed in marble containers.

But their joy was short-lived.

Police arrested five men and seized the drug, which had a street value of RM1.2mil, in separate raids in Rantau and Linggi in Negri Sembilan and Setapak in Kuala Lumpur early this week.

Another 3kg of ketamine was found in a house in Linggi on the same day.

In a follow-up raid, police picked up a man in Setapak Jaya on Wednesday night.

Police said preliminary investigations revealed that the ketamine was brought in from South Asia via a Maskargo flight.

The drugs were concealed in six marble shaped containers which were declared as decorative items for the construction of a mosque.

Ten other containers found at the shoplot were empty.

Negri Sembilan police chief Datuk Osman Salleh said that all five men, aged between 39 and 46, were expected to be charged under Section 39B of the Dangerous Drugs Act which carries the mandatory death penalty upon conviction.

He said that one of the men in the first raid was a permanent resident.

He, however, declined to disclose the man's nationality.

"With the arrests, we believe that we have crippled the activities of an organised syndicate which had turned Negri Sembilan into a drug distribution centre," he told a press conference yesterday.

Osman said police believed the syndicate had been operating from the shoplot at Taman Delima in Rantau for a month.

"They had put up a board saying that they were involved in trading and services. Now we know what kind of services they had been providing," he said.

Apart from the drugs, police also seized two cars, RM20,566, another RM105,786.80 in the bank account of one of the men, handphones and computers.

Osman thanked the public for the tip-off.