A police operation against a smuggling syndicate has uncovered an unexpected lead on the abduction of the pastor Raymond Koh.

Inspector-General of Police Khalid Abu Bakar said the operation led to a shootout in Kampung Weng Dalam, Kedah on June 17, where the prime suspect, in his 40s, was shot dead.

The police have also arrested three suspected syndicate members - ages between 30 and 60 - as well as the prime suspect’s widow.

Among the items recovered at the suspect's home later included a photo believed to be that of the pastor's house, photos believed to be that of his two vehicles, and a vehicle license plate bearing the number ST 5515 D.

"So we believe that the group is linked to the abduction of pastor Koh. Afterwards, we have brought all three that we have arrested and the wife of the suspect that we shot dead back to Kuala Lumpur.

"Investigations are still ongoing," he told a press conference at the police headquarters in Bukit Aman today, where Khalid was hosting a Hari Raya open house.

Koh was abducted on Feb 13 in Kelana Jaya. He was reportedly driving a silver Honda Accord bearing the licence plate number ST 5515 D at the time.

CCTV footage showed the pastor's car being forced to stop after being boxed in by three black SUVs while driving along Jalan SS4B/10, before he was snatched from his car.

A bit of luck

Meanwhile, Khalid said the group had came under the police's notice at the end of last year for allegedly smuggling operations across Malaysia-Thailand border.

"In the beginning, this group was not on our radar for investigation on the abduction of pastor Koh. They are involved in arms smuggling, drugs smuggling, and human trafficking," he said.

This was until the joint operation between the police's Serious Crime Division (D9) and Special Task Force on Organised Crime (Stafoc).

After the shootout, he said police arrested the suspect's widow at their home at Kampung Weng Dalam.

The three other suspects were each arrested in Kuantan, Kota Bharu, and Kuala Kangsar. Khalid said they may have dual citizenships.

Is Koh still alive?

At the scene of the shootout, Khalid said police have recovered drugs, a pistol, bullets, documents, and two sets of vehicle registration plates from the suspects car.

It was when the police went to the suspect's house later where the photos and the ST 5515 D license plate was recovered.

In addition, he said the police found methamphetamines, a pipe bomb, bullets of various calibres, some photos and documents.

Khalid declined to disclose further information, saying that the investigations are still underway and the suspects are still being interrogated.

Asked if the pastor is still alive, he replied, "We don't know. Just wait."

"We will conduct interrogations on the detainees, and later we will give the updates."