North Sumatra Police Uncover 29 Kilogramme Methamphetamine Trafficking Network Linked to Thailand
The Narcotics Directorate (Ditresnarkoba) of the North Sumatra Regional Police has thwarted the distribution of 29 kilograms of methamphetamine suspected to be part of an international Thailand-Indonesia trafficking network.
In the operation, police arrested a suspect with the initials M, a resident of East Aceh Regency, Aceh Province.
The Director of the Narcotics Directorate of North Sumatra Police, Brigadier General Andy Arisandi, stated that suspect M served as a courier responsible for delivering methamphetamine to various regions in Indonesia.
“Each package weighs approximately one kilogramme. This network is international because the controller is in Thailand,” said Brigadier General Andy Arisandi in Medan on Tuesday (17 March).
He explained that based on the investigation results, the 29 kilogrammes of methamphetamine was sent from Thailand by boat to Aceh Province. Subsequently, the narcotics were planned to be distributed to the city of Lhokseumawe.
According to Brigadier General Andy, the methamphetamine distribution was also controlled by an Indonesian national with the initials R who currently resides in Thailand. Additionally, the network is suspected to be controlled by a prison inmate serving a sentence at a correctional facility in Aceh with the initials I alias S.
“He is an Indonesian citizen who already lives in Thailand with initials R. So our communication, whether residing legally or illegally, is also our focus to uncover the whereabouts of the person in question,” he said.
The discovery of this case began on Saturday (7 March) when officers received information about a large-scale drug shipment. The team then conducted an investigation and pursued the courier who was said to be using a Toyota Kijang Innova vehicle.
A day later, on Sunday (8 March), officers spotted the suspected vehicle stopping at a petrol station on the Banda Aceh-Medan road in Peureulak District, East Aceh Regency. After the vehicle resumed movement following receiving two sacks suspected to contain narcotics, officers immediately gave chase.
At approximately 21:00 local time, the vehicle driven by the suspect was stopped and searched. From inside the vehicle, police discovered two sacks containing methamphetamine with a total weight of 29 kilograms.
When interrogated, the suspect confessed to being promised a payment of 70 million Indonesian rupiah if he successfully delivered the narcotics. He also confessed to having made three previous drug deliveries to several regions.
“So this courier has made three deliveries,” said Andy.
Based on the suspect’s confession, he previously delivered narcotics to the regions of Pekanbaru, Lhokseumawe, and Jambi.
“Police are currently continuing to develop the case to dismantle the larger network, including pursuing controllers operating abroad,” he said.