TheJakartaPost
Please Update your browser
Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.
Authorities seize Singapore-flagged ship, three Indian nationals carrying meth
The narcotics were hidden inside the ship's fuel room.
Change text size
Gift Premium Articles
to Anyone
Share the best of The Jakarta Post with friends, family, or colleagues. As a subscriber, you can gift 3 to 5 articles each month that anyone can read—no subscription needed!
Drug user illustration. (Shutterstock/-)
The National Narcotics Agency (BNN), Customs Office and police seized Singapore-flagged cargo ship Legend Aquarius and three Indian nationals on Saturday in the waters of Karimun regency, Riau Islands, for carrying up to 106 kilograms of methamphetamine hidden inside the ship’s fuel room.
Authorities arrested the three Indian nationals, who hold permanent residency in Singapore, over the narcotics, while they let 10 other crew members of Indonesian nationality go as they were not directly involved.
BNN Chief Comr. Gen. Marthinus Hukom said the agency received tips from the locals about a ship carrying narcotics.
“From its packaging, the meth may have originated from Myanmar, although we need to check further to make sure of its origin,” Marthinus said on Wednesday at the Tanjung Ucang Customs Port in Batam, Riau Islands.
“The meth was headed to Brisbane, Australia, but the three suspects did not have visas to go there. We are still gathering information from them,” Marthinus said.
BNN Eradication Deputy Insp. Gen. I Wayan Sugiri said the Legend Aquarius set off from Singapore on July 9 and then docked at a private port in Johor Bahru, Malaysia, on July 10 to load the cargo.
“The three Indian nationals with Singapore permanent residency told the 10 other crew members that they were from the [ship’s] management,” Sugiri said, adding that the crew members were recruited from a shipping agency based in Bekasi, West Java.
The suspects then loaded the meth into the ship’s fuel room without the crew knowing, then set sail for Brisbane, refueling in Singapore.
“On July 13 around 11:00 pm, our combined team seized [the ship] while in Indonesian waters in Pongkar village, Karimun regency,” Sugiri said.
Customs Office Narcotics Interception Director Syarif Hidayat said the arrest was made using the office’s BC 7005 Patrol Boat to intercept the cargo ship.
The three Indian nationals, identified only as RM, SD and GV, were still in Batam and would soon be transferred to BNN Headquarters in Jakarta for further investigation.
The suspects are charged with Article 114(2) of the 2009 Narcotics Law, with a potential sentence up to the death penalty. (ami)
