Secret Lab and Massive Shipment Worth $192 Million: How Indonesia Foiled the Largest Drug Smuggling Operation?

Indonesian National Police Chief Sigit Listyo Prabowo announced that security and customs officers intercepted a vessel carrying 1.1 tons of ketamine off the coast of Sumatra last Tuesday, and revealed the following day a secret laboratory for manufacturing liquid methamphetamine in the Aceh region.

In a press statement, he explained that intelligence agencies began tracking the tanker, which had been sailing from Thailand through the Andaman Sea since last August, after receiving information indicating its involvement in suspicious activities. He noted that the ship was flying the Mongolian flag but was owned by a company based in Johor Bahru, Malaysia.

Police and customs forces intercepted the vessel in the Strait of Malacca on Tuesday while it was en route to Port Klang in Malaysia, then escorted it to Belawan Port in North Sumatra for inspection operations.

The police estimated the value of the seized shipment at approximately 3.48 trillion Indonesian rupiah (around $192 million).