T

he National Police announced Wednesday that they arrested on Sunday a drug ring that had been operating out of Denpasar, Bali. The group involved an inmate housed at Kerobokan Prison, identified as DN, who is alleged to have acted as a supplier.

Bali Police narcotics division director Sr. Comr. Raden Purwadi said the police had arrested three of DN'€™s accomplices, namely businessman I Made Putu, alias Putu Leon, 44, alleged to be the group'€™s leader; I Gede Putu Astawa, alias Putu Krecek, 39, an alleged courier; and Cahyadi, alias Bocah, 38, alleged to have distributed the contraband to Bali night clubs.

'€œBased on demand from Putu Leon, DN, using his cellphone, ordered crystal methamphetamine, smuggled from Guangzhou in China, and ecstasy from Malaysia. The drugs were then strapped around a courier'€™s waist and taken past the screening system at the Ngurah Rai International Airport,'€ Purwadi told reporters at the National Police narcotics division office in Cawang, East Jakarta.

The police confiscated 154 packages containing crystal meth, 63 ecstasy pills, a bong, cash amounting to Rp 823 million (US$61,700), five fake Rp 100,000 notes, an SUV and a motorbike, 18 mobile phones, a sales notebook, a samurai sword, a knife and an air gun. The confiscated goods are estimated to be worth Rp 2.3 billion.

For possessing and distributing more than 5 kilograms of narcotics, the three were charged with articles 112 and 114 under the Narcotics Law which carries the death penalty as a maximum sentence.