Indonesian authorities have seized around 1.3 tonnes of ketamine worth hundreds of millions of ringgit from a foreign-flagged vessel in one of the country’s largest drug busts.
National Narcotics Agency (BNN) chief Suyudi Ario Seto said intelligence received in February indicated that the MV King Sun was sailing eastwards from Thailand while carrying a suspicious cargo.
The vessel was subsequently placed under surveillance for several months before an Indonesian Navy warship intercepted it as it entered Indonesian waters last Thursday.
“An inter-agency team discovered 65 sacks hidden inside the vessel. Laboratory tests later confirmed that the substance was ketamine,” Suyudi said at a press conference on Sunday.
The seized drugs, weighing approximately 1.3 tonnes, have an estimated value of 2.07 trillion rupiah (about RM476 million). Authorities are continuing to search the vessel to determine whether other narcotics were also being transported.
According to Indonesian news agency Antara, the ship was registered under the Tanzanian flag and was intercepted in waters around the Riau Islands, near Singapore.
All eight crew members aboard the vessel were detained. They comprised seven Myanmar nationals and one Taiwanese national.
Suyudi said investigators were now working to establish where the shipment originated, its intended port of destination and the identities of those who sent and were due to receive the drugs.
“We are still investigating the origin of the cargo, its destination port, as well as who sent and received it,” he said.
The latest seizure comes after Indonesian authorities confiscated 3.37 tonnes of cannabis flowers last month while foiling an alleged smuggling attempt from Bangkok. Twelve suspects were arrested in that operation.
