JAKARTA (Xinhua): Indonesian authorities have seized 1.16 tonnes of ketamine from a tanker intercepted in waters off North Sumatra province and arrested eight crew members in a joint operation, a senior police official said on Friday.
Suyudi Ario Seto, chief of the National Police's narcotics investigation unit, said authorities intercepted the tanker, MT Global 168, off Tanjung Balai Asahan after nearly a week of surveillance involving police, the National Narcotics Agency, customs authorities and water police.
Speaking at Bandar Deli port in Medan, Suyudi said authorities began tracking the vessel on Oct 14 as it sailed through waters near Malaysia before approaching northern Aceh and Thailand.
Investigators detected irregularities in the vessel's automatic identification system, which transmitted two different names, MT Global and Gross Dolphin, he said.
Officers arrested seven Indonesian crew members and one foreigner, and confiscated 58 sacks containing a total of 1.16 tonnes of ketamine, along with communication equipment and the tanker. -- Xinhua
