Habiburokhman Relieved as Sea Dragon ABK Fandi Ramadhan Avoids the Death Penalty

JAKARTA, KOMPAS.com - Chairperson of the House of Representatives’ Commission III, Habiburokhman, said he was grateful that the ship’s crew (ABK) on the MT Sea Dragon Tarawa, Fandi Ramadhan, was not sentenced to death in the 1.9-tonne methamphetamine smuggling case, but was sentenced to five years’ imprisonment.

Habiburokhman said he was relieved that he could help ordinary people seek justice.

‘Alhamdulillah we are grateful that Fandi was not handed the death penalty,’ Habiburokhman told Kompas.com on Thursday (5 March 2026).

‘We are truly relieved that our efforts to help the common people seek justice have yielded a good result,’ he added.

He emphasised that the Penal Code (KUHP) and the Criminal Procedure Code (KUHAP) are now oriented toward substantive and rehabilitative justice.

‘The panel of judges already understands that under Article 98 of the KUHP, the death penalty is an extraordinary punishment that must be applied very selectively,’ he said.

The case history began with the interception of MT Sea Dragon Tarawa on 21 May 2025 by a joint team from the National Narcotics Agency (BNN) of the Republic of Indonesia and the Indonesian Navy. The vessel was stopped in the waters off Karimun, Riau Islands.

During inspection, officers found 67 boxes containing packages of methamphetamine wrapped in Chinese tea packaging.

The operation has been regarded as one of the largest narcotics smuggling cases ever disclosed in Indonesia. The drugs were believed to originate from the international network Golden Triangle, operating in Thailand, Myanmar, and Laos.

Besides Fandi Ramadhan, five other crew members were arrested, including Hasiholan Samosir, Leo Chandra Samosir, Richard Halomoan Tambunan, and two Thai nationals, Teerapong Lekpradub and Weerapat Phongwan.

Following surrender to the prosecutors and through the judicial process, submission of charges took place on 5 February 2025. The Public Prosecutor argued that Fandi, along with his colleagues, had known from the outset the plan to smuggle methamphetamine. Court records show that Fandi received a payment of IDR 8.2 million before the vessel departed. The prosecutors argued that Fandi was aware that the goods he helped transport were narcotics beyond the scope of the law and part of an international narcotics network. He was charged under Article 114(2) in conjunction with Article 132(1) of Law No. 35 of 2009 on Narcotics, which carries the death penalty.