Customs Thwart Circulation of 40 kg of Methamphetamine at Bakauheni Port, Lampung

The synergy between Customs and the Indonesian National Police has foiled two attempts to smuggle methamphetamine (sabu) totalling around 40 kilograms at Bakauheni Port, Lampung, on 15 and 16 April 2026. Both cases revealed similar modus operandi, namely false concealment by exploiting hidden spaces in vehicles to deceive officers. The Head of the West Sumatra Customs Region Office, Bier Budy Kismulyanto, stated that this enforcement involved several parties, including the West Sumatra Customs Region Office, the Customs Narcotics Interdiction Directorate, Lampung Port Customs, National Police Criminal Investigation Agency, National Police Marine and Fisheries Affairs, Lampung Provincial Police, South Lampung Police Narcotics Unit, and the Bakauheni Port Security and Facilitation Unit. “In the two enforcements, we managed to address attempts to smuggle methamphetamine (sabu) with a total evidence weight of 40 kg,” he emphasised in a written statement on Wednesday (22/4/2026). The first enforcement took place on Wednesday (15/4/2026) around 03:00 WIB at the port entrance checkpoint. Officers stopped a four-wheeled vehicle with licence plate B 1765 VOX. Suspicion arose when the passenger window could not be lowered, indicating hidden modifications to the vehicle. After a thorough inspection, officers found 29 packets of sabu in Chinese tea packaging hidden in the right and left door compartments of the vehicle. Additionally, from further development, officers discovered an additional approximately 4 kilograms of sabu in the rear door. “The modus operandi was false concealment or disguise using hidden spaces. And the result of the first enforcement totalled approximately 33 kilograms of evidence,” explained Bier. Furthermore, both perpetrators, MA and MF, admitted to acting only as couriers. They were recruited by someone with initials AM, suspected to be in Malaysia. The joint team then conducted development (controlled delivery) and successfully secured two recipients of the goods. Thus, the total number of suspects in this case is four, who were subsequently handed over to the National Police Criminal Investigation Agency for further legal proceedings. A day later, on Thursday (16/4/2026) at 17:30 WIB, the joint team again foiled a sabu smuggling attempt at the same location. This time, officers inspected a four-wheeled vehicle with licence plate B 2459 KZR driven by two individuals from Medan. From the inspection, 10 packets of sabu weighing approximately 7 kilograms were found hidden under the front seat of the vehicle using a similar method, namely false concealment. Both suspects, MH and JDS, admitted to being instructed by someone with initials KAK AR, and the goods were intended to be taken to the Priok area before being handed over to other parties. “So from both enforcements, we managed to secure a total of 40 kg of sabu,” explained Bier. He also emphasised that this success is strong evidence of the robustness of inter-agency synergy in combating cross-regional narcotics circulation. “We will continue to strengthen supervision and collaboration to close every smuggling loophole.” According to him, the pattern of delivery using private vehicles and hidden compartments remains a frequently used modus operandi by narcotics networks. Therefore, strengthening intelligence and integrated inspections are key in prevention efforts.