Chronology of Drug Lord Andre 'The Doctor' Buron Captured in Malaysia
Andre Fernando Tjandra, alias ‘The Doctor’, a drug lord who was a fugitive from Bareskrim Polri, has been arrested in Malaysia. This supplier to the Koh Erwin network was captured four days after his name was added to the wanted persons list (DPO).
Secretary of NCB Interpol Indonesia, Brigadier General Untung Widyatmoko, stated that Andre ‘The Doctor’ had been on the DPO list since 1 March 2026. On Sunday (5 April 2026), ‘The Doctor’ was detected in Penang, Malaysia, and was eventually arrested at 13:44 local time.
Brigadier General Untung explained that the success of this arrest operation was the result of intensive coordination and intelligence exchange between Indonesian and Malaysian authorities.
“The arrest of the fugitive named Andre Fernando Tjhandra alias ‘The Doctor’ is concrete evidence of the solid operational cooperation between the NCB Interpol Indonesia Unit of Divhubinter Polri and the Special Branch PDRM,” said Untung in his statement to reporters on Monday (6 April).
Divhubinter Polri tracked Andre ‘The Doctor’ following a request from the Narcotics Crime Directorate of Bareskrim Polri to search for the suspect. According to Untung, ‘The Doctor’ was quite slippery and had previously evaded an arrest attempt in Kuala Lumpur.
“The subject was quite slippery and managed to escape an arrest attempt in Kuala Lumpur, before we finally cornered and captured him in Penang. There is no safe haven for narcotics syndicates, wherever they hide,” he added.
Previously, the Director of Narcotics Crimes at Bareskrim Polri, Brigadier General Eko Hadi Santoso, confirmed the arrest of Andre ‘The Doctor’. Andre has now arrived at Bareskrim Polri for further examination.
“It is true that on Sunday, 5 April 2026, the DPO named Andre Fernando alias Charlie alias The Doctor was successfully arrested by a joint team in a joint operation between Dittipidnarkoba Bareskrim Polri, Divhubinter Polri, and Interpol in Penang, Malaysia,” said Brigadier General Eko Hadi.
Profile of ‘The Doctor’
Andre Fernando Tjhandra is the main fugitive following the dismantling by Bareskrim Polri investigators of a narcotics distribution network involving rogue police officers in the jurisdiction of Bima City Police Resort, West Nusa Tenggara. This case stemmed from the development of investigations into AKP Maulangi and AKBP Didik Putra Kuncoro, who are suspected of receiving protection funds amounting to Rp 2.8 billion from a syndicate member named Erwin bin Iskandar alias Koko Erwin.
Andre ‘The Doctor’ is known to have facilitated the escape of Koh Erwin to Malaysia. However, Koh Erwin was captured in illegal waters en route to Malaysia on 26 February 2026.
From the arrest of his associates, Charles Bernando and Arfan Yulius Lauw, the police confirmed the true identity of ‘The Doctor’ as Andre Fernando Tjhandra.
In this syndicate, ‘The Doctor’ held full control as the main international-scale distributor. He distributed various types of narcotics, from methamphetamine, happy water, to vape liquids containing etomidate (brands Ferrari and Lamborghini).
The modus operandi used by the suspect was highly organised. Prohibited vape goods were smuggled from Malaysia via sea routes to Dumai, Riau. Meanwhile, for methamphetamine-type narcotics, the suspects used land and cargo routes by hiding them inside dolls neatly wrapped in gift boxes to deceive officials.