MEDAN: Indonesian police arrested a Malaysian for smuggling vapes containing etomidate to North Sumatra's Medan, together with a local woman who was identified as assisting him.
Medan City Police Narcotics Investigation Unit chief Adj. Sr. Comr. Rafli Yusuf Nugrah said the 22-year-old Malaysian, identified only as FCB, was arrested together with his girlfriend, the 35-year-old N, a resident of Medan, inside a car on Aug 19.
Officers found 24 vapes laced with drugs, which were stored in the suspect’s backpack. From the arrests, the police thereafter went to a rental home on Jl. PWS in Medan.
“The police found five drugged vapes and RM15,000 (US$3,719 in cash, which are believed to be the proceeds of selling illicit vapes,” Rafli said in a press statement on Tuesday (Aug 25).
He said there were a total of 29 vapes containing etomidate confiscated from the suspects and a cash receipt of exchange from rupiah to ringgit from a money changer in Medan.
Investigations revealed that both suspects, FCB and N, were known to be lovers who met on social media. They then met in Medan and agreed to distribute drugs there.
The man had previously smuggled drug vapes from Malaysia to Medan through the Kualanamu International Airport, Deli Serdang regency.
“FCB first smuggled 20 drug vapes in July from Malaysia to Medan,” he said.
Rafli said the Malaysian man hid the vapes by inserting them between clothing folds inside the suitcase, and they were not detected by the X-ray machine at Kualanamu. Upon arriving in Medan, the local woman then went on to assist in selling the vapes.
“The buyers were N’s friends in Medan,” he said.
After successfully selling the smuggled vapes for the first time, the man returned to Malaysia to bring more drug vapes to Medan. In his second run, FCB smuggled drugged vapes with the same modus operandi.
Rafli said the X-ray machine at Kualanamu again did not detect the contrabands. However, before all the drugged vapes were sold in Medan, the arrests were made, with 29 vapes remaining.
“Officers confiscated the remaining contraband from the suspects, part of the 40 vapes smuggled from Malaysia,” Rafli said.
He said the police were still investigating the smuggling network from Malaysia, including suppliers and parties who had bought and distributed them in Medan. Detectives are still chasing the suspect's boss for suppling the illicit vapes, and who is believed to reside in Malaysia.
“Medan City Police have coordinated with the Royal Malaysian Police to reveal the network supplying drugged vapes to FCB in Malaysia,” Rafli said.
“In addition to acting as smugglers, both suspects are also users because they both tested positive for etomidate.”
North Sumatra Governor Bobby Nasution asked the provincial legislative council to deliberate a bylaw regulating the supervision of vapes or e-cigarettes, which have been infused with drugs, as the province tops the national drug abuse rankings.
One of the crucial points in the bylaw is the new method in drug distribution using vape liquid, he said in April.
“The distribution of vapes containing drugs is increasing, raising drug abuse in North Sumatra to the top nationally,” he said.
“For years, the province has been first in drug abuse. This is an extraordinary challenge.”
Meanwhile, North Sumatra National Narcotics Agency (BNN) chief Brig Gen Tatar Nugroho said the province topped the national list for drug abuse with some 1.5 million users.
Nationally, based on a survey by BNN and the National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN), the prevalence has increased to 2.7 per cent. - The Jakarta Post/ANN
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