Pidie Drug Lab Disguised Liquid Methamphetamine as Acrylic Paint
Jakarta (ANTARA) – The National Police’s Criminal Investigation Agency (Bareskrim Polri) Narcotics Crime Directorate has revealed that a clandestine drug laboratory in Pidie Regency, Aceh, disguised liquid methamphetamine as acrylic paint.
The directorate’s Subdirectorate III head, Police Commissioner Zulkarnain Harahap, said at Bareskrim Polri headquarters in Jakarta on Tuesday that liquid methamphetamine produced at the laboratory was stored in 20-kilogram acrylic paint tins bearing the brand name “Titan Pro”.
“‘Titan Pro’ has not been manufactured; it is made overseas and is specifically for acrylic paint. But there is a difference on the tin: ‘acrylic’ is changed to ‘acilik’. That is where the forgery can be seen,” he said.
He also said the laboratory network used the term “blue ice” to refer to high-purity methamphetamine.
“‘Blue ice’ is the network’s term for a product of fairly good quality. It is pure quality. It is just a term used within the network,” he said.
ANTARA observed the Narcotics Crime Directorate transferring 10 suspects and a number of pieces of evidence in the case from the Mutiara Timur area of Pidie Regency, Aceh, to Bareskrim Polri headquarters in Jakarta. The laboratory is suspected of producing 1.2 tonnes of methamphetamine.
Harahap said the evidence transferred included liquid methamphetamine in “Titan Pro” paint tins, frozen methamphetamine, crystallised methamphetamine, and 74 packages of the drug weighing a total of 74 kilograms.
The suspects comprise two Chinese nationals and eight Indonesians. The two Chinese nationals allegedly served as cooks, or chemists, processing liquid methamphetamine into crystal form.
In addition to naming the suspects, investigators from the Narcotics Crime Directorate are pursuing two other people: ES, alleged to have provided the funding, and JM, alleged to have controlled the laboratory.
The suspects have been charged under Article 114(2) of Law No. 35 of 2009 on Narcotics, or Article 610(2) and/or Article 609(2) of Law No. 1 of 2026 on Criminal Penalties Adjustment, in conjunction with Article 132(1) of Law No. 35 of 2009 on Narcotics.