Office head Nasar Salim said the arrest of Lim Chen Huat, 45, was made after officers from his office found a dozen packages of white powder, 10 of which were wrapped in newspaper and two in plastic bags, inside Lim’s bag.

“Our officers were suspicious when Lim’s grey bag passed through the X-ray machine as he arrived from Kukup [Malaysia] onboard the ferry MV Marina Baru 5,” Nasar told The Jakarta Post on Wednesday.

Further examination of the packages later revealed the 10 paper packages contained 10,112 ecstasy pills, while the plastic bags contained 2 kilograms of crystal meth.

The seized ecstasy has an estimated street value of Rp 1.5 billion, while the crytsal meth was valued at Rp 4 billion.

“We are sure Lim Chen Huat is a member of an international syndicate,” Nasar said.

He added that a week prior to the arrest, Lim had observed the surveillance conditions to see if he could smuggle the drugs through the port.

“He was apparently wrong because we have ordered all custom and excise officials in the region to tighten surveillance,” said Nasar.

He added that Lim had also tried to bribe the officials who arrested him.

Lim, who lives in Pontian, Johor Bahru, Malaysia, according to Nasar, planned to take the drugs to Jakarta onboard a Pelni ship from Tanjung Balai Karimun to Tanjung Priok, which departs every
Wednesday.

“We have handed over the case to Karimun Police for further investigation,” Nasar said.

The arrest of Lim, Nasar said, was the second that his office has made after it arrested another Malaysian citizen for carrying over 15,000 ecstasy pills through the port last year.

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