The crystal meth package was smuggled from Thailand into the Kuala Idi waters of Idi Rayeuk sub-district, East Aceh district, BNN head Marthinus Hukom informed here on Tuesday.
A joint team of personnel from the BNN, National Police, and Customs and Excise Office thwarted the smuggling operation and arrested the suspects while they were transporting the package on September 8, he said.
The suspects were identified as JP alias PU, SA alias BA, AL, PH alias PU, MK, and MN alias NA, he informed, adding that the drug racket was uncovered thanks to a tip from the public.
After receiving information about an impending meth package delivery by members of an Indonesia-Malaysia drug ring, the joint team intensified their surveillance.
During the surveillance operation, the joint personnel detected a fishing boat, locally called Oskadon, about 20 miles away from the Kuala Idi coastal line, Hukom said.
They decided to approach the boat, which was carrying three people, and inspect it. Upon examination, they found three sacks containing 50 bags of meth that the three boat crew had earlier thrown into the sea, he added.
The boat crew — JP alias PU, SA alias BA, and AL — were arrested. They told BNN investigators that they picked up the meth package from a Thai-speaking man around Thailand's Adang Island waters.
Their apprehension led to the arrests of PH alias PU, a coordinator at the Idi fish port in East Aceh district, as well as MK and MN alias NA, who were nabbed near a fish pond in Kuta Lawa village, Idi Rayeuk sub-district, he added.
As reported earlier, Indonesia has seen drug addiction spiral into a life-threatening problem for millions of its people.
Drug lords still see the country as a potential market due to its vast population and millions of drug users. The value of the drug trade in the country is estimated to have reached about Rp66 trillion (around 4.3 billion US dollars).
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Translator: M.Haris SA, Rahmad Nasution
Editor: Tia Mutiasari
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