The illicit drug in China Tea package was confiscated from a suspect identified with his initial ABK when he was to hand it over to a friend ZLF in Batam, Riau Islands, police said.
Bareskrim Deputy Director for Drug Crimes Sr.Com. Krisno Halomoan Siregar told reporters here on Friday that police arrested five suspects including one apparently the drug ring leader.
"There are five suspects rounded up. They are four Indonesians and a foreigner, who is the ring leader. He is a Malaysian," Krisno said.
It began on Sunday, 25 November, 2018, when police investigators arrested ZLF, who made the order for the drug from Malaysia to Batam. ZLF was nabbed in front of a drug store Apotek Vitka Farma, Windsor Central Complex, Lubuk Baja, in the city of Batam.
The nabbing of ZLF led to the arrest of ANW (38) from the Perumahan Legenda Bali, Baloi Permai, Batam.
"ANW was the buyer of the drug from Jakarta," Krisno said.
In the next day police arrested ABK (42) and MSK (29) in Batu Ampar and Lubuk Baja. ABK was the courier carrying the drug from the coast to be handed over to ZLF, and MSK was in charge of financing the illicit operation .
On Tuesday, 27 November, 2018, police investigators arrested the Malaysian identified with his initial RCS (48) at the Batam Center Ferry Terminal.
RCS led the operation smuggling the 7 kilogram drug from Malaysia to Batam by ship.
The five suspects are facing a sentence from 6 years up death with a fine of up to Rp10 billion each if found guilty.
Earlier, police arrested three suspects at the International Airport of Soekarno Hatta carrying two kilograms of methamphetamine from Aceh.
Reporting by Anita Permata Dewi
Editing by Rahmad Nasution
Reporter: Antara
Editor: Suharto
Copyright © ANTARA 2018
