Police search for three more suspects in drug case
Fadli, The Jakarta Post, Batam
The National Police said they were searching for three more suspects in connection with a home laboratory manufacturing ecstasy pills, which was discovered last week in the Riau town of Tanjung Balai Karimun.
The police, however, refused to identify the three suspects, who they believe are still in Indonesia, but said they may be suppliers of the equipment and substances used to make excepts.
"We will find them even though they are on the run because dealing in illicit drugs is not a minor offense," Sr. Comr. Yontje Mende, a senior officer with the narcotics division at National Police Headquarters, said.
He arrived in Tanjung Balai Karimun on Thursday to see the laboratory firsthand as part of the investigation into the national or international network behind the trade.
Police in the West Riau Islands district arrested six suspects: A. Hai, 29, Doni, 22, Ahmad, 34, Andi, 20, Surya, 24, and Acing, 44, and seized a total of 14,726 ecstasy pills.
The six men were arrested on Dec. 6 when the police raided Ahmad's house, where they discovered the equipment and five kilograms of the chemical powder used in the production of ecstasy.
"A. Hai admitted that one kilogram of the powder could make 5,000 ecstasy pills. It means that they would have manufactured at least 25,000 more pills with the five kilograms they had, while we had seized almost 15,000 pills," Yontje said.
He said the illegal setup was the second largest find made by the police after another raid in Tangerang last April netted the owner of a drug laboratory that manufactured ecstasy pills by the thousands.
The suspect, Ang Kiem Soei, alias Anche Tahir, alias Kim Ho, 31, was arrested along with a haul of 8,400 ecstasy pills and illicit chemicals used in the making of the pills in the laboratory at Jl. KH. Hasyim Ashari No. 29, KM 1, Cipondoh, Tangerang.
Pursued by drug detectives since 1998, he was believed to hold both a Dutch passport and an Indonesian identification card, which was reportedly issued in Papua.
The laboratory, where Ang Kiem himself lived, had three main rooms, which were all used to produce the pills.
The materials seized from the laboratory included Methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA), which is Ecstasy in powder form before it is made into a capsule or pill. MDMA is a synthetic, psychoactive drug possessing stimulant and hallucinogenic properties.
Police did not say if the Tangerang and Tanjung Balai Karimun laboratories were linked.
Yontje said police were working hard to reveal the masterminds behind the manufacturing operation of ecstasy pills in Tanjung Balai Karimun.
The police require specific background to carry out the investigation as these are professional drug dealers, he said.
"Dealers using manual tools can produce 500 pills a day, let alone those operating with modern technology. They may be able to manufacture up to 50,000 pills a day," Yontje said.
He said the police discovered that a transfer of Rp 323 million had been made to the bank account of A. Hai, a key suspect in the drug bust.
The money was believed to have been transferred by Hai's customers on July 15 of this year, Yontje said, but he declined to elaborate further.
Hai later transferred some of the money to bank accounts belonging to other people, who were under investigation, he added.