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ustoms and excise officers said Thursday they had foiled an attempt by a local man to smuggle into the country crystal methamphetamine worth Rp 8 billion (US$800,000) from Penang, Malaysia.

Officers at Polonia International Airport in Medan, North Sumatra, apprehended Medan Labuhan resident Tri Sudarmoko as he arrived at the airport on board an AirAsia plane from Penang at 8:05 p.m. local time Wednesday.

Polonia customs and excise office head Hendi Budi Santosa said Thursday his officers arrested the suspect because he was trying to smuggle 4,044 grams of crystal methamphetamine, known locally as shabu-shabu, by packing it in milk cartons.

Hendi said the concealed drugs were found after customs officers became suspicious of objects inside the suspect's carry-on luggage during an X-ray inspection.

Upon inspecting the luggage, the officers found the bag was filled with six cartons of milk and a laptop computer. Each of the milk cartons were neatly packed with crystal meth.

Two of the cartons were each filled with 505 grams of crystal meth. Another two cartons each contained 507 grams of the drug respectively. The final two cartons carried an astonishing 1,010 grams of crystal meth each.

"The estimated price of the drugs is Rp 8 billion," Hendi told reporters at his office.

Polonia airport customs and excise office's investigation and enforcement division head David Yohanes Muhammad said that based on an interrogation conducted by customs officers, the suspect was believed to have bought the contraband from a drug dealer in Penang.

Suspect Tri Sudarmoko admitted to the media that he owned the drugs.

Tri added that it was the first time that he had smuggled drugs and was tempted by the huge profits given the high price of crystal meth in Indonesia.

"I was tempted because the price of shabu-shabu here is expensive, while I bought it in Malaysia at a cheap price," Tri told reporters at the customs office.

Based on information from customs officers, Tri bought the crystal meth at Rp 2 billion, but had only paid a down payment of Rp 1 billion.

It is understood he planned to settle the payment after selling the drugs.

Customs investigators said Tri had made the transaction through a bank in Medan.

Tri managed to get the large amount of money into Malaysia in the form of a bank-issued cheque.

Upon his arrival in Penang, Tri withdrew the cash in Malaysian ringgit.

He then handed over the cash to the drug dealer and acquired the drugs.

"It is not our jurisdiction to find out the person who had given the drugs to the suspect. Let the police investigate it," a customs officer told The Jakarta Post.

Yohanes acknowledged that drug trafficking from Malaysia through Polonia Airport had increased. He said that based on data, the customs office had foiled four drug trafficking attempts from Malaysia between June and October this year.

"The drug traffickers are all Indonesians. They obtain the contraband from a drug syndicate in Malaysia and sell it in Indonesia," said Yohanes.