The East Java Police have been questioning Iranian and Turkish citizens entering the country through Juanda international airport in Surabaya over fears of drug smugglers of either nationality.
Head of the police's drug unit Adj. Sr. Comr. Sudirman said the move was necessary in anticipation of international smugglers of methyl amphetamine, or sabu-sabu as it is locally known, entering Indonesia through the airport.
"We are suspicious that the Iranians we arrested in Surabaya are from the same network as the ones arrested in Jakarta," said Sudirman, referring to the four Iranian citizens arrested last week for carrying 4.7 kilograms of sabu-sabu worth Rp 6.5 billion.
He added that the police's initial investigation into the case had shown that the sabu-sabu seized from the four Iranians was identical to that seized from the 10 Iranians arrested at the Soekarno Hatta airport in Jakarta two weeks ago.
"There is a big possibility that other drug couriers from Iran will be sent to Indonesia through the same airports," he told The Jakarta Post during the weekend.
Sudirman added that his office had been coordinating with other institutions, such as the National Police headquarters, Custom and Excise office and the Immigration office,the to list Iranian citizens entering the country.
"We are now after the local drug syndicate escorting them *Iranians* and marketing their drugs," Sudirman said, adding his office had the name of the local syndicate.
A joint team comprising of the provincial Custom and Excise Office, military police, and the East Java Police's drug unit arrested the four Iranians on Tuesday.
Two of them, Mozhran, 39, and Mohammad, 21, were arrested at the Juanda airport.
Another, Sayyed Maghdi, was arrested in a hotel, while Mohamad Reza alias Mamali was arrested in a shopping center in Surabaya.
Sudirman said that Mozhran, Mohammad and Sayyed Maghdi told the investigators they were each paid US$500 for delivering kimonos filled with sabu-sabu to Mamali who would later send the drug to Bali and Jakarta overland due to the highly tight security at the airports in both cities.
"The three also mentioned an Iranian, known by his initial G, who is now living in Istanbul, Turkey, as the mastermind of the smuggling."
A police investigator who requested anonymity said that although both the Iranians arrested in Jakarta and in Surabaya belonged to the same network, they did not know one another, showing that they belonged to different cells.
"We have suspicion that there are four other couriers of different cells that have passed *the security checks* and more others to come."
The source also said that the police were sure that the drug-smuggling activities to Indonesia were being controlled from Turkey, following a change in the drug center in the Middle Eastern regions.
