Jakarta Narcotics Prison Foils Drug Smuggling Attempt Hidden in Squid

The Class IIA Narcotics Correctional Facility (Lapas) in Jakarta has successfully foiled an attempt to smuggle narcotics brought in by a visitor hidden inside a meal of stir-fried squid. “We managed to thwart a drug smuggling attempt. The modus operandi was that the individual came for a visit, brought food, and inside the stir-fried squid, items suspected to be illegal narcotics totalling 12 packages were found,” said the Acting Head of the Jakarta Narcotics Prison, Edi Sigit Budiman, in Jakarta on Thursday. Edi explained that the discovery began with a routine inspection of visitors and their belongings entering the prison area in accordance with applicable standard operating procedures. “Among the belongings, the individual brought food including rice, stir-fried squid, and vegetables. We examined the food according to SOP, and that is where the illegal items were found inside the stir-fried squid,” he clarified. The finding was immediately reported to the leadership. Subsequently, the prison authorities coordinated with the Jakarta Regional Office of the Directorate General of Corrections to determine the procedural handling steps. “After reporting to the leadership, in this case the Head of the Jakarta Regional Office of the Directorate General of Corrections, as directed we reported this case to the authorities, namely the East Jakarta Metropolitan Police,” said Edi. Two visitors were detained, identified by the initials K and RP. The man with the initial K intended to meet an inmate to deliver the narcotics, while RP was merely a friend who provided transport. Based on initial information obtained by officers, the perpetrator dared to carry out the smuggling attempt because he was promised a reward of Rp500,000 if he succeeded in bringing the illegal items into the prison. It is understood that the illegal items originated from the Tanjung Priok area in North Jakarta. “The information we have is that they obtained these items from a domicile in the North Jakarta area, in Tanjung Priok. So the network, according to the information we received, is that the goods were entrusted through a courier, then reached the individual, and were then planned to be sent to an inmate inside the prison,” said Edi. The Jakarta Narcotics Prison is committed to continuously strengthening supervision of visitors and their belongings to prevent the entry of prohibited items into the correctional environment.