BNN: 10 Foreign Crew Members of Vessel Carrying 2.6 Tonnes of Liquid Narcotics Named Suspects

A joint team from the National Narcotics Agency (BNN), Karimun Customs and Excise, and the Riau Islands Police has foiled the smuggling of 2.6 tonnes of liquid narcotics and millions of illegal cigarettes transported aboard a cargo vessel in the waters off Tanjung Balai Karimun, Riau Islands. Ten people have been named as suspects.

“The details of the suspects and evidence secured from this operation include 10 crew members,” said BNN Chief Commissioner General Suyudi Ario Seto at a press conference on Friday (21/8/2026).

The ten crew members taken into custody are foreign nationals. The suspects have the initials AT, ST, YY, KZ, PP, TK, KM, HT, SM, and TH.

The vessel was intercepted on Monday (17/8/2026). In this joint operation, Customs and Excise deployed patrol vessels BC 30005 and BC 20011 from the Riau Islands Regional Customs Office, along with a K9 team from Batam Customs.

Joint officers then searched four containers on board the vessel. Two of the containers were found to be empty.

Meanwhile, one open container contained tools such as ropes, spare parts, plastic wrap, and other equipment. The remaining container was still locked and had been freshly welded shut. After being opened, the container was found to contain packets of cigarettes bearing the ‘GD’ logo with a leaf image and Chinese-language text.

Officers then interrogated one of the crew members, which led them to a suspicious storage area inside the container. Upon inspection, officers discovered several drums with a capacity of 200 litres each and a water tank with a capacity of 1,000 litres.

The containers held liquid that, when tested using a narcotics identification kit, proved positive for methamphetamine. The total evidence suspected of containing methamphetamine reached a gross weight of 2.6 tonnes.