BALING: Volunteers from a non-governmental organisation were shocked to discover a young beggar couple they had helped find a home for were actually drug addicts.
Out of sympathy, a team of volunteers from MadadCare had helped the couple who were begging in front of a bank branch in Taman Ria Sungai Petani to relocate to a house in Baling. The couple have two young children.
However, less than 24 hours after moving, the 26-year-old husband was arrested by Baling police near their new home in Kampung Binjul Dalam, Tawar for drug possession.
The couple eventually confessed to the volunteers of Murthada Dakwah Centre (Madad) that they had been spending between RM500 and RM600 daily from money they collected from the public to spend on drugs.
"It was just yesterday that we helped the family to move into a new house, only to learn that they have been abusing drugs.
"Thank you to Tawar police station and Baling police headquarters for swift action after we reported the matter," a Madacare spokesman said when contacted.
He added that the team had handed over the couple's two young children to their relatives who live in Kuala Ketil.
Meanwhile, Baling police chief Superintendent Shamsudin Mamat confirmed that police had arrested the husband near the house for drug possession yesterday.
He said police had seized 7.31grammes of heroin worth RM182 from the suspect who admitted that the drugs belonged to him.
"He was taken to the Baling police and was subsequently tested positive for drugs abuse," he said in a statement.
Shamsudin added that the man has been released pending further investigation after police recorded his statement.
