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Jakarta Police bust ring smuggling drugs hidden in food packaging
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Jakarta Police officers show seized evidence to the press on Friday. Police have arrested 11 suspects alleged to be members of a drug ring that hid drugs inside food packages. (Kompas.com/David OIiver Purba)
T
he Jakarta Police have arrested 11 suspected drug smugglers believed to be part of a Banjarmasin-Jakarta drug ring. The drugs were hidden inside food packaging labeled as catfish flakes and Medan anchovies.
Investigators seized 6.5 kilograms of crystal methamphetamine, 40,000 ecstasy pills, 20,000 pills of a new drug called Yaba and 15 grams of marijuana. All were found during a raid in Green Pramuka Apartment complex in Central Jakarta on Tuesday.
“We confiscated the evidence of packages labeled catfish flakes, a signature dish from Riau. The contents were replaced by the suspects with the [crystal meth]. The same with the food packs labeled Medan anchovies,” Jakarta Police spokesman Sr. Comr. Argo Yuwono said on Friday as reported by kompas.com.
Police busted the drug ring after previously arresting a suspect identified only as HR in Depok, West Java, on Dec. 13, 2018. On the same day police also arrested two other people, identified only as FIR and AH, in Cibinong. Investigators also arrested three other suspects, GZ, NR and NR, in a Green Pramuka apartment last week.
Inside the apartment, investigators found several suitcases containing the crystal meth, ecstasy pills and marijuana hidden inside the food packages.
After further investigation, Police arrested five further suspects, identified only as AW, ZN, TON, FM and YAH.
Jakarta Police drug unit officer Adj. Sr. Comr. Calvijn Simanjuntak said GZ allegedly received the drugs from a suspect, MG, who is still at large. Police are also hunting another suspect identified only by the initials HONG, who allegedly connected GZ and MG.
Calvijn said the drug ring allegedly produced the colored food packaging with printed pictures as camouflage for the drugs. (gis)
