The suspects were taken into police arrest in Bengkalis and Pekanbaru, Director of the Riau Police's Drug Crime Unit Senior Commissioner Suhirman confirmed here on Tuesday.
The offenders smuggled the drugs from Malaysia into Indonesia via Riau's eastern coast, he noted.
"The eastern coast is the silk route for the smuggling of illicit drugs into Indonesia through Riau, and the drugs were distributed outside Riau," he remarked.
The arrest was made after a tip-off was received from the local people. The police needed a month to investigate it.
Two suspects, respectively identified by their initials as D and A, were arrested in Bengkalis on July 3, 2019, and the police seized 10 kg of crystal methamphetamine and 15,500 ecstasy pills from them.
The police later detained another suspect, Bd, 19, and confiscated some 500 ecstasy pills intended for sale in South Sumatra.
Suspect D confessed to having picked up the drugs smuggled through Riau's waters from Malaysia four times. He was paid Rp20 million for each time.
The police claimed to have known the identity of a drug kingpin operating in Riau.
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Translator: Anggi Romadhoni, Fardah
Editor: Azizah Fitriyanti
Copyright © ANTARA 2019
