Gen. Sutanto leads raid on massive ecstasy plant

Police discovered what they believe to be the world's third largest ecstasy factory ever found on Friday in Kampung Tegal, Serang, Banten, in an operation directly led by National Police chief Gen. Sutanto, Antara reported.

The police arrested 13 people, including foreign nationals from France, the Netherlands and China, whose identities are being kept secret to facilitate follow-up investigations.

Sutanto said the police were hunting a man identified as Benny Sudrajat, who is believed to have run the factory. Benny is on the police's most wanted list.

The factory contained around 62.4 tons of precurser chemicals for producing crystal methamphetamine, locally known as shabu- shabu and 6.2 tons of precurser chemicals for making ecstasy, as well as thousands of ecstasy pills and hundreds of kilograms of shabu-shabu ready for delivery to Hong Kong.

The plant stands on four hectares in an area bordering Lebak regency, located some 80 kilometers west of Jakarta.

It was the largest success recorded so far by the National Police, which has made the war on drugs one of its top priorities since Sutanto took office in July.

Sutanto said the police began to watch the plant in May.

"Our suspicions first arose when we discovered an arrival of modern equipment from overseas. Since then, we intensified our investigations, culminating in the raid on the plant," Sutanto said.

Sutanto, formerly the chief of the National Narcotics Agency, said the factory was the third largest in the world after ecstasy factories found in Fiji and China.

Serious drug offenses carry the death penalty in Indonesia. An Indian national and two Thai nationals were executed last year, while a number of domestic and foreign prisoners are currently on death row for drug-related crimes. -- Antara