T

he drug directorate of the National Police Criminal Investigation Agency (Bareskrim) announced on Wednesday in Medan, North Sumatra, that it was pursuing four members of an international drug syndicate. All four suspects are from Malaysia.

The announcement was made after police officers shot dead two dealers who had been supplying narcotics across a number of large provinces in Indonesia.

The four members of the drug syndicate yet to be apprehended were identified as Mursal, FR, Encek and WNR.

Mursal's is reportedly in Malaysia while the other three suspects are reportedly in the area around Tanjung Balai city, North Sumatra.

'We are coordinating with the Malaysian Police to capture Mursal, while the other three are being hunted domestically,' the agency director IV for drugs, Brig. Gen. Arman Depari said.

It is alleged the four individuals transported drugs from Malaysia to Medan to be further distributed to a number of provinces in Indonesia by two dealers ' Ramadhan P Kesuma (RPK) and Selly Satria Aprianto (SSA) ' who were shot and killed by police in two separate raids in Medan.

'We were forced to shoot RPK and SSA. They died on their way to the hospital,' Arman Depari told reporters in a press briefing held in Medan on Wednesday.

According to the police, RPK, 27, of Jl. Karya Medan, was shot because he fought back when he was about to be arrested at the Grand Aston Hotel, Medan.

SSA, 50, of Jl. Danau Melintang, Medan, was shot while attempting to flee arrest at Bukit Hijau Regency residential complex.

The police seized 2.5 kilograms of crystal methamphetamine (locally known as shabu-shabu) and 10,000 ecstasy pills from RPK's room and 100 grams of crystal methamphetamine from SSA's residence.

The police also detained four other drug dealers suspected to be part of RPK and SSA's network in Medan.

The police paraded three of the four suspected drug dealers for the press during a briefing at the Grand Aston Hotel. The other suspect had been taken to Tanjung Balai to help police find the three wanted Malaysian fugitives.

Responding to a question, Arman said that the police learned about the whereabouts of RPK and SSA from the arrests of three drug dealers in Banjarmasin, South Kalimantan, on April 18. During the raid police seized seven kilograms of shabu-shabu, 7,000 Happy Five pills, ecstasy powder and narcotics paraphernalia.

One of the three men arrested in Banjarmasin ' identified as DM ' said that fugitive FR had given him the order to receive drugs from RPK and SSA in Medan. The information led to the police's attempted arrest of RPK and SSA.

North Sumatra Police's drug director Sr. Comr. Toga Panjaitan said that the attempted arrests of RPK and SSA were a special operation conducted by officers from the National Police.

The authorities in North Sumatra have long voiced their frustration with their counterparts in Malaysia for failing to prevent drug trafficking over the Malacca Strait into Indonesian territory.

The Malaysian authorities, however, denied that they deliberately allowed smugglers bound for Indonesia through.