F

ollowing the uncovering of an international drug smuggling ring in Jepara, Central Java, the National Narcotics Agency (BNN) arrested three Pakistan nationals in a series of raids across the capital, conducted jointly with the Jakarta Police and Immigration officials on Friday.

The raids, a result of developments in the investigation of the Jepara case, were carried out at a travel agent office and at a hotel, both in Tanah Abang, Central Jakarta, as well as at a shop-house in Petamburan, West Jakarta.

'€œWe suspected that they were linked to the Jepara-based drug syndicate,'€ said BNN Monitoring Division deputy head Insp. Gen. Arman Depari.

Arman said that the three are suspected of laundering drug money between Indonesia and Pakistan.

They ran a money laundering business while operating a travel agent office and a hotel in Tanah Abang, he said, adding that, based on BNN investigation, the suspects were thought to have been running the money laundering practice since 2013.

On Wednesday, the BNN raided a furniture warehouse in Pekalongan subdistrict, Jepara, used to store 100 kilograms of smuggled crystal methamphetamine from China, hidden inside 94 electricity generators.

During Wednesday'€™s raid, the BNN arrested four Pakistani nationals and four Indonesians. Each could face the death penalty according to articles 112, 114 and 122 of Law No. 35/2009 on narcotics and illicit drugs and the Money Laundering Law.

Aside from the three Pakistanis, Immigration officials detained 11 Nigerians on passport counterfeiting allegations.

Arman said the BNN had also coordinated with the Jakarta Police and Immigration officials to investigate the involvement of the Nigerian nationals in the production and distribution of counterfeit passports, as well as for possessing fake passports.

He did not elaborate further with regard to either the Pakistani or the Nigerian groups and declined to discuss any further links between the two.

Separately, Jakarta Police narcotics director Sr. Comr. Eko Daniyanto said that the police had yet to question the Nigerians due to an ongoing investigation currently being undertaken by Immigration officials.

On Friday, officials released one of the Nigerian nationals as he had a legal passport and is reported to be returning to Nigeria soon.

Eko emphasized that, after the Immigration officials had concluded their investigations, the police would look into the passport counterfeiting as well as drug syndicate involvement. According to him, aside from the passports and stamps, a number of syringes were also seized during the joint investigation.

As of Friday evening, the Nigerian and Pakistan embassies could not be reached for comment with regard to the raids.

Wednesday'€™s crystal methamphetamine seizure is the largest narcotics seizure from an international drug syndicate this year.

In October last year, the BNN, along with Belawan Harbor Police, stopped a smuggling attempt involving 200 kg of crystal methamphetamine from China in a raid on a warehouse complex in Medan, North Sumatra.

In January 2015, the BNN also busted a syndicate of nine people during a raid on a wholesale market in Kalideres, West Jakarta.

One of the suspects, a Hong Kong national, Wong Chin Ping, is alleged to have masterminded a well-organized plan to smuggle crystal methamphetamine from Hong Kong to Indonesia. Wong packed the drugs into 1 kg coffee containers, mixing the narcotics with real coffee. The West Jakarta District Court sentenced Wong to death in November last year.