BNN chairman Budi Waseso said the suspect, identified only by the initials MR, 35, was caught at a supermarket in Pantai Indah Kapuk, Penjaringan, North Jakarta, on Oct.19.

“The suspect was a courier and he hid the ecstasy pills under his motorcycle seat. The pills came from Riau Islands and were about to be distributed to nightclubs in Jakarta,” he told journalists in Jakarta on Tuesday.

A lawmaker from the House of Representatives’ Commission III overseeing legal affairs, Dwi Ria Latifa, said smugglers in Riau Islands were using new methods to distribute their drugs.

The smugglers, she said, would seal the drugs in plastic bags that they released into the sea. Receivers would then pick the drug packages up using traditional boats, she went on.

The lawmaker further said smugglers tended to use small islands largely unmonitored by security authorities to distribute the drugs.

Budi said the BNN was continuing to question MR, who is believed to be a member of an international drug syndicate. “A convict currently serving a sentence at a penitentiary in Jakarta is reported to be involved in the smuggling activity,” he said.

The suspect will be charged with violating Article 114 of the 2009 Narcotics Law, with the maximum sentence of death. (adt/ebf)

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