Looking at how this drug is packed and the modus operandi applied by this drug ring, this probably belongs to the Malaysian drug syndicateBanjarmasin, S Kalimantan (ANTARA) - Cross-border drug traffickers continue to target South Kalimantan, the local police have revealed while thwarting an attempt by a Malaysian drug ring to trade 1,002 grams of crystal methamphetamine in the province. The crystal meth packed in Xiangri's Chinese tea packaging that the police confiscated from two suspects this week might have been transported by the members of the Malaysian drug syndicate, Adjunct Senior Commissioner Eko Wahyuniawan said here Thursday.
"Looking at how this drug is packed and the modus operandi applied by this drug ring, this probably belongs to the Malaysian drug syndicate," said Wahyuniawan, deputy director of the South Kalimantan Police's Anti-Drug Department.
The crystal meth which was transported from the islands of Sumatra to Java was meant to be traded in South Kalimantan Province, he said, adding that police investigators had arrested Muhammad Fahrul Raji, 30, and Syifa Kamali, 27.
The two suspects confessed to the police investigators that they received the package with drugs from a courier who asked them to keep it at the RG DECO auto repair shop on Pangeran Hidayatullah Street of Banjarmasin city, he said.
Fahrul Raji alias Asep, the auto repair shop owner, and Syifa Kamali were asked by the drug courier to await further orders to hand over the package to someone. The police have identified the courier.
However, the suspected courier, only identified by his initials RH, remains at large. The police investigators are hot on his heels, he said.
Related news: BNN foils attempt to smuggle 72 kg of drugs from Malaysia
Most recently, the South Kalimantan police also foiled a Malaysian drug ring's attempt to trade 10,078 ecstasy pills and 1,036 grams of crystal meth.
Investigators arrested a suspect named Risnu Wahyudi, 26, who carried the drugs on a passenger ship from the East Java city of Surabaya. This consignment might have also been controlled by a Malaysian drug syndicate.
Cross-border drug trafficking is a serious threat to all member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). Therefore, the member countries of this regional group had signed the Joint Declaration for a Drug-free ASEAN by 2020. (INE)
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Translator: Firman, Rahmad Nasution
Editor: Fardah Assegaf
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