KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian police have arrested eight men in a raid at a Kuala Lumpur hotel linked to suspected drug activity after a local guest died early on Sunday (May 24). 

Malaysia media reports said the eight included two Singaporeans, but in response to CNA’s queries, Singapore’s Central Narcotics Bureau (CNB) said on Tuesday: “To our knowledge, only one of the eight men is a Singaporean.”

Brickfields district police chief Hoo Chang Hook said the operation was carried out after authorities received a report on the death of a 31-year-old Malaysian man at Kuala Lumpur Hospital, local media reported. 

The man was pronounced dead at the hospital’s emergency department where he had been brought from a hotel along Jalan Stesen Sentral. Jalan Stesen Sentral is a stone’s throw away from KL Sentral – Malaysia’s largest transit hub. 

Local news outlet The Star identified the premises as a five-star hotel. 

“Acting on intelligence, the Narcotics Crime Investigation Department raided the hotel room where the deceased had been staying at 4am,” Hoo said in a statement on Sunday, as quoted by the New Straits Times (NST). 

Local media reported that during the raid, police detained eight individuals of various nationalities – including two Malaysians, two Singaporeans and one each from Hong Kong, Vietnam, Indonesia and China. 

“Police also seized a transparent plastic packet believed to contain 1.5g of ketamine and three pills suspected to be ecstasy weighing 0.7g, with an estimated value of RM225 (US$56.90),” said Hoo, as quoted by The Star. 

All eight suspects have been remanded for three days to assist investigations under Sections 12(2) and 15(1) of the Dangerous Drugs Act, NST reported. 

Commenting on the death of the 31-year-old man, Hoo said on Sunday that a post-mortem had been completed, with the cause of death still pending laboratory results. 

The case has been classified as a sudden death.

Hoo said initial investigations found that the victim was brought down from the hotel room by his friend at about 3.10am after he lost consciousness before being taken to the emergency department at Kuala Lumpur Hospital. 

In its response to CNA, Singapore’s CNBsaid it was aware that eight men, including a Singaporean, were arrested in Malaysia on Sunday for suspected drug-related offences.

“CNB will render the required assistance to our counterparts in Malaysia to aid their investigation. As their investigation is ongoing, it is inappropriate to comment further at this point in time,” a CNB spokesperson said.