JAKARTA: Indonesian police recently nabbed seven members of an international drug ring operating in Jakarta, including two Taiwanese, confiscating a massive 63 kilograms of crystal methamphetamine, a local daily newspaper reported Thursday.
Indonesian National Police Chief Tito Karnavian said Wednesday that authorities recently busted an international drug ring, arresting seven suspects from Thailand, Kenya and Taiwan, according to a report by the Indonesian national daily newspaper Republika. Tito said that police anti-drug operations carried out on Aug. 6, Aug. 9 and Aug. 17, led to the smashing of the ring and resulted in the seizure of 63 kilograms of methamphetamine, according to Tito.
As for the Taiwanese involved, Tito said Indonesian police arrested two suspected meth dealers identified as Lin Hsin-han and Huang Xhin-wei in an apartment in Jakarta where they found 60 kilograms of methamphetamine in their luggage.
Prior to the arrest of the two Taiwanese suspects, the authorities had gathered reports that illegal drugs were being hidden inside some apartments in Jakarta and drug dealers from Taiwan had become active in the area. After tracking their movements, police discovered that some Taiwanese had entered Indonesia for unknown motives and stayed only briefly in the country on each visit.
It is not the first time that Taiwanese drug suspects have been arrested in Indonesia, a country where the maximum penalty for drug offenses is death. In January, the Supreme Court of Indonesia sentenced three Taiwanese to death for attempting to smuggle more than two kilograms of amphetamine each into the country, through Jakarta International Airport, in 2014.
A few months later, in April, Indonesian police arrested another Taiwanese suspect in Jakarta who was found with 12 kg of methamphetamine. Earlier this month, a Taiwanese citizen was arrested in Jakarta after 15 kg of methamphetamine was found at his residence.
