KUALA LUMPUR: Police today revealed they had found new leads in the abduction of Pastor Raymond Koh following a drug sting operation earlier this week.

Inspector-General of Police Khalid Abu Bakar said police raided the house of a drug trafficking suspect where photos believed to be of Koh’s house and his car were found.

The raid was conducted after the suspect had been killed in a shootout with police in Kampung Weng Dalam, Kedah, on June 17.

After the shooting, drugs, a 9mm pistol, bullets, documents and two sets of licence plates were discovered in the car of the suspect, who is also believed to be a firearms smuggler.

“We believe this group is connected to the abduction of Pastor Koh,” he told reporters at the Hari Raya open house here.

He said three other suspects from the same group, as well as the dead suspect’s wife, had been arrested and brought to Kuala Lumpur for further questioning. They were picked up in Kuantan, Kota Bharu and Kuala Kangsar.

Khalid said the group had only come under the police radar late last year but were not investigated for Koh’s abduction then as their previous crimes were related to drugs and firearms.

Khalid refused to divulge further details, stating the case was still under investigation and that Koh’s family had not been filled in on the latest developments.

News of the new leads comes a month after the IGP announced that a local, picked up in a northern state, had been detained in connection with the pastor’s abduction.

Koh, 62, was abducted by a group of masked men less than 100 metres from the Police Housing Complex in SS4, Kelana Jaya, on the morning of Feb 13.

Video footage later emerged showing what looked like a well-executed plan involving seven vehicles and at least 12 individuals.

The whole incident took place in under a minute, with all vehicles, including Koh’s car, seen driven away.

Khalid later revealed police were also investigating Koh for proselytising, as there were police reports for such an offence.