Police Bust Etomidate Case in North Jakarta, Seize 276 Vape Cartridges
The North Jakarta Metro Police have uncovered the distribution of etomidates, a type of narcotic packaged within vape cartridges, at a nightlife venue in Penjaringan, North Jakarta. The discovery began after police received a report from the venue’s management regarding the circulation of these narcotics-infused vapes.
“Subsequently, the team arrived at the location and successfully apprehended the suspect, identified by the initials FIS, along with the evidence,” stated AKBP Ari Galang Saputra, Head of Criminal Narcotics Unit at the North Jakarta Metro Police, in a statement on Saturday (6/6).
“The evidence includes 16 cartridges containing mango-flavoured etomidate with a gross weight of 116.9 grams, 7 cartridges containing passion fruit-flavoured etomidate with a gross weight of 56.9 grams, and 4 cartridges containing a mix of passion fruit and mango flavours with a gross weight of 40 grams,” he added.
During the raid at the entertainment venue, police also apprehended another suspect, identified by the initials WS. Following further investigation, FIS was found to be acting as a courier for the etomidate-filled vapes, while WS acted as the distributor.
Police subsequently expanded their investigation and searched an apartment in the Kalideres area of West Jakarta, which was suspected to be a storage facility. At that location, police seized additional evidence consisting of 61 cartridges of tea-flavoured etomidate (483 grams), 60 cartridges of lychee-flavoured etomidate (494.2 grams), 63 cartridges of grape-flavoured etomidate (498.7 grams), and 64 cartridges of mango-flavoured etomidate (508 grams).
“The total evidence seized consists of 276 vape cartridges of etomidate ready for distribution,” said Galang.
The suspects face charges under Article 119, Paragraph 2 of the Indonesian Narcotics Law (Law No. 35 of 2009) in conjunction with the Law on Criminal Penalty Adjustment, as well as Article 609, Paragraph 2 of the new Criminal Code (Law No. 1 of 2023).