BATAM: Indonesian authorities said on Friday that they had dismantled a cross-border narcotics network and arrested six Indonesians while hunting two Malaysians believed to be supplying etomidate and other drugs to operations in Batam, Riau Islands.
The National Narcotics Agency (BNN) deputy for enforcement, Insp. Gen. Aswin Sipayung, told a press conference that the syndicate operated in a highly organised manner, from smuggling drugs through illegal seaports to repackaging and distributing them in the Riau Islands.
BNN officers and personnel from the Customs and Excise Directorate General raided four locations used by the drug network. The joint team held the press conference at one of the crime scenes, a shophouse in the Sakura Garden area in Batu Ampar, Batam.
The case came to light after Customs officers at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport found a suspicious package from Malaysia labelled as Orange Fiber Xtra food supplement. Tests conducted at the Customs and Excise Laboratory (BLBC) in Jakarta found that the package contained 3,4-Methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA), ketamine and other dangerous substances.
The discovery prompted a joint tracing operation with the BNN.
The joint team arrested a man identified as BAP, who was about to collect the package in Batam on Wednesday.
Based on BAP's testimony, officers swiftly arrested three other suspects at a hotel in Baloi, identified as ED, who allegedly ordered the package, as well as NC and TFS.
Officers seized four vape cartridges containing etomidate, three ecstasy pills, sabu (methamphetamine) and ketamine powder.
They then moved to an apartment owned by TFS in Teluk Tering and a boarding house in the Sakura Garden shophouse area in Batu Ampar, occupied by AJ and DA.
At those locations, officers found dozens of electronic cigarette pods containing etomidate, sabu, Happy Five (H5) tablets and two sachets of Happy Water drinks.
Officers also deployed a K-9 sniffer dog from the Batam Customs and Excise Office during the raid in Batu Ampar.
At the same time, Customs officers at Batam Centre International Ferry Terminal foiled a separate attempt to smuggle 48 cartridges containing etomidate from a Malaysian passenger identified as PS, who had arrived from Stulang Laut International Ferry Terminal in Johor Bahru.
The joint team is still investigating whether the case is connected to the factory recently raided by BNN and Customs officers in Batam.
In total, officers confiscated 1,076.18g of MDMA, 50g of sabu, 25.6g of ketamine powder, 86 H5 tablets, 10 ecstasy pills, 170 vape cartridges containing etomidate, 12 vials of etomidate weighing 226g, 88 vape devices, nine bongs (paraphernalia used to consume sabu), three plastic sealing devices and six digital scales.
Officers also seized several vehicles, including a Toyota Alphard van, a Toyota Agya hatchback, a Chery sport utility vehicle (SUV) and two motorcycles.
Aswin said the syndicate had attempted to deceive officers by hiding drugs and etomidate cartridges inside dried food packages and food supplement sachets before resealing them with plastic sealing devices to make them appear to be legitimate food products.
"The operation was a follow-up to daily border monitoring operations," Batam Customs and Excise Office head Agung Widodo said in a written statement.
"We managed to save some 6,770 people and prevent potential state healthcare rehabilitation costs amounting to Rp10.8 billion (US$599,000) through this enforcement action."
Authorities are still hunting Malaysians identified as SL and WKC, who have been placed on the wanted list for their alleged roles as the syndicate's main suppliers.
The suspects are being charged under Article 114(2) in conjunction with Article 132(1) and/or Article 112(2) in conjunction with Article 132(1) of Indonesia's Law No. 35/2009 on Narcotics.
If convicted, they face penalties ranging from a minimum of five years' imprisonment to the death penalty, as well as a maximum fine of Rp10 billion. - Jakarta Post/ANN
