Indonesia seizes 1.16 tons of ketamine, police chief says

JAKARTA, Oct 23 (Reuters) – Indonesian authorities seized 1.16 tons of ketamine on a Mongolian-flagged vessel from Malaysia in the waters of North Sumatra province earlier this week, the country’s national police chief Suyudi Ario Seto said on Friday.

• Indonesian authorities, including the police and the customs office, apprehended the tanker in the waters of Tanjung Balai off the province earlier this week, Seto said

• They arrested seven Indonesians and one Taiwanese national, Seto said, including the captain, engineers, and an oiler

• The ketamine was found in 58 sacks weighing 1.16 tons, Seto said

• He said the street value of the haul amounted to 3.48 trillion rupiah ($192.64 million)

• The tanker departed from Pasir Gudang in Malaysia, transited through the Malacca Strait and headed to the Andaman Sea, where authorities believe it conducted a ship-to-ship transfer to receive the ketamine

• Authorities had noticed “anomalies” in the vessel’s Automatic Identification System before apprehending it, Seto said

• The amount of drugs proved how destructive “international syndicates are to our national security”, he added

• Indonesia has strict drug laws and in ⁠2015 ​executed two Australians in the “Bali ​Nine” drug ring for attempting to smuggle heroin out of the resort island of ​Bali

($1 = 18,065 rupiah)

(Reporting by Stanley Widianto; Editing by David Stanway)

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