TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The Riau Province customs and excise office together with the Indonesian navy foiled a major drug smuggling attempt that came from Malaysian territory into the Riau coastline.

The smuggling vessel, which carried the 30 kilograms of crystal meth, was eventually sunk by Indonesian authorities.

“That is confirmed. The team from the customs and excise successfully commenced the crackdown. We will release more updates as the process goes on,” said Riau customs and excise spokesperson Fino Vianto at Pekanbaru on Sunday.

Based on official information from the provincial government, the crackdown took place on Saturday, June 13, at the waters of Tanjung Leban, Rupat Island, in the Bengkalis Riau District. This location directly borders with the Malaka Strait and is known to be the entrance route for trades between Indonesia-Malaysia, both legal and illegal.

At the time of the arrest, Riau officials acted on a tip they received earlier and at noon found a suspicious vessel attempting to dock which did not comply with the coast guard’s order to stop. Coast guards were forced to barge into the drug smuggler’s vessel as they failed to follow the command, which eventually sunk the illegal vessel.

Riau coast guard eventually managed to secure two drug smugglers along with 30 packages of crystal meth placed inside Chinese tea products. Two other suspects managed to flee into the nearby woods and are currently on Riau police’s manhunt.

ANTARA