Police have seized 180 kilogrammes of ganja worth RM540,000 during raids in Jalan Putra, Alor Star, on Thursday.

Kedah deputy police chief Abd Jalil Hassan said two men were picked up in two separate locations by the Bukit Aman Special Tactics and Intelligence Narcotics Group (Sting) and state Narcotics Criminal Investigation Department teams about 9pm.

He said in the first arrest, the police detained a 45-year-old man at a traffic light on Jalan Putra with 176 slabs of ganja found at the back of a Toyota Unser he was in.

Subsequently, the police picked up his accomplice, a 46-year-old man, who was waiting in front of a hotel along the same road at 9.10pm, some 500 metres away from the location where the first suspect was arrested, he said.

"Our investigations revealed that the drug was obtained from a neighbouring country and believed to be delivered to the second suspect. We believe the drug was to be distributed for the local market especially in the northern states," Jalil told a press conference at the Kedah police headquarters today.

The men, who have previous criminal records for drugs, are remanded for seven days until July 21 to facilitate investigations under Section 39B of the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952.

- Bernama