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School bus drivers accused of transporting drugs to Riau
Riau province is a market, as well as a transit point for drug traffickers.
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At a recent press conference in Jakarta, personnel of the National Narcotics Agency, the Customs and Excise Office and the Indonesian Navy display crystal methamphetamine seized during a different raid in Batam. (JP/Wendra Ajistyatama)
B
intan Police have arrested three school bus drivers on Bintan Island, Riau province, accusing them of transporting drugs from Malaysia. One of the suspects was allegedly found storing 118 kilograms of crystal meth for shipment to Sumatra and Java.
Bintan Police chief Adj. Comr. Sr. Boy Herlambang said the suspects were arrested by a task force that was formed to crack down on rampant drug smuggling from Malaysia to Riau. Police made the arrest after receiving information about a large-scale drug transaction taking place in Bintan.
"On Aug. 30, we arrested a man identified as JF. From his house, we confiscated 120 packs of crystal meth smuggled from Malaysia weighing 118 Kg. He [allegedly] stored the drugs in his toilet, car and several bags. After interrogating JF, we found two other suspects: SY and ZH," Boy told The Jakarta Post on Wednesday.
Boy explained that his office reported its findings to the Malaysian Police so that they could find a Malaysian man with the initial W, who is accused of smuggling the drugs to Indonesia and supplying the arrested suspects. He said the crystal meth was smuggled to Indonesia using illegal speed boats. He claimed it was stored in jerrycans that were disguised as containing furniture varnish during the transport. After receiving the meth, the three suspects were allegedly to have transported it to Java and Sumatra. They would allegedly have hidden the meth under a modified car floor.
"The suspects had transported drugs six times before being arrested," Boy claimed. "They were native Bintan residents who worked as school bus drivers. I was worried they had also distributed the meth to the students, but a preliminary investigation found no such thing had happened."
Police said they would charge the three suspects with violating Law No. 35/2009 on narcotics, which carries the death sentence upon conviction.
Drug smuggling is rampant in Riau province. Riau Police spokesperson Comr. Sr. Saptono Erlangga said officers had cracked three drug smuggling cases in last August alone.
