JAKARTA: Indonesian authorities seized 1.16 tons of ketamine on a Mongolian-flagged vessel from Malaysia in the waters of North Sumatra province earlier this week, the country's national police chief Suyudi Ario Seto said on Friday.
Indonesian authorities, including the police and the customs office, apprehended the tanker in the waters of Tanjung Balai off the province earlier this week, Seto said
They arrested seven Indonesians and one Taiwanese national, Seto said, including the captain, engineers, and an oiler
The ketamine was found in 58 sacks weighing 1.16 tons, Seto said
He said the street value of the haul amounted to 3.48 trillion rupiah ($192.64 million)
The tanker departed from Pasir Gudang in Malaysia, transited through the Malacca Strait and headed to the Andaman Sea, where authorities believe it conducted a ship-to-ship transfer to receive the ketamine
Authorities had noticed "anomalies" in the vessel's Automatic Identification System before apprehending it, Seto said
The amount of drugs proved how destructive "international syndicates are to our national security", he added
Indonesia has strict drug laws and in 2015 executed two Australians in the "Bali Nine" drug ring for attempting to smuggle heroin out of the resort island of Bali. - Reuters
