Batam Customs Thwarts Smuggling Of 1.79 Kg Of Crystal Methamphetamine, Arrests Malaysian Citizens

Batam Customs and Excise, Riau Islands thwarted the smuggling of 1.79 kg of crystal methamphetamine through airports and ports in Batam with different modes of dragging/involving four suspects, including a Malaysian foreign national (WNA).

Head of the Batam Muhtadi Customs and Excise Enforcement and Investigation Division (P2) said 1.79 kg of methamphetamine was confiscated from two different disclosures, with different locations, and different modes.

"Officers succeeded in thwarting efforts to smuggle class 1 narcotics of methamphetamine or methamphetamine with a total weight of 1,797.7 grams (1.79 kg) and securing four perpetrators with various modus operandi," Muhtadi said as quoted by ANTARA, Tuesday, December 2.

He explained that the first action at Hang Nadim Batam Airport was when officers suspected the movements of a passenger with the initials AW (27) with the Batam-Surabaya route when passing through the inspection area of the domestic departure terminal cabin.

On this suspicion, officers summoned the passenger for inspection. At that time the passenger showed agesturuslisah and was uncomfortable.

"The perpetrator's gesture makes the officers' suspicions increase," he said.

The officer then examined the passenger carefully, until something odd was found in the insole section of his shoes. As a result, two clear plastic packs were found containing white crystalline powder suspected of being methamphetamine with a total weight of 602 grams.

The case was developed by the Riau Islands BNNP until it managed to secure another perpetrator with the initials AH (50) who is the supervisor of the network in the Bengkong area, Batam.

"From the perpetrator AH, a plastic bag containing white crystalline powder was allegedly methamphetamine weighing 666 grams which was stored under AH's bed," he said.

From the results of the investigation, the perpetrator AW worked as a construction worker in Batam and received an offer to be a meth courier by a friend named MH from Madura.

AW, he said, was ordered by MH to take methamphetamine at Tanjung Balai Karimun and take it to Madura in exchange for Rp70 million, and asked to coordinate with AH after arriving in Batam.

On November 19, AW departed for the Sekupang Domestic Port to Tanjung Balai Karimun and took a package of methamphetamine from MH's messenger on the side of the road not far from the port.

After Batam returned, AW handed over the methamphetamine package to AH to prepare a mode of hiding by inserting methamphetamine into the shoes AW will wear.

"Based on AH's statement, the methamphetamine package found in his boarding house is also planned to be sent to MH by AW at the next trip," he said.

This case has been handed over to the Riau Islands BNNP for processing according to applicable law.

The next action at Ferry International Harbor Bay Port at the end of November 2025, when Batam Customs Officers at Ferry Internatioannal Harbor Bay suspected two passengers on the MV ship. Putri Anggeni 02 who had just arrived from Puteri Harbor, Malaysia.

Based on this suspicion, he continued, officers examined the two passengers. As a result, the identity of the perpetrator is identified as a foreign national (WNA) from Malaysia with the initials MA (30) and an Indonesian citizen with the initials MF (31).

During the inspection, he said, the two passengers showed uncomfortable gestures and were involved, such as hiding something in their bodies.

The officers then took the passengers to the Customs and Excise post for a more in-depth examination with the 9th unit followed by a medical examination at a hospital in Batam.

"The results of the medical examination found a total of 8 packs of evidence with a total weight of 529.7 on the perpetrator's body," he said.

Meanwhile, the MA passengers were found a total of 4 round packs behind the latex containing 263.7 grams of methamphetamine. Meanwhile, the perpetrators of MF, found four round-shaped packs wrapped in latex containing 266 grams of methamphetamine.

Perpetrators of the Supreme Court and the MF work as online taxi drivers in Malaysia and accept offers to be couriers of methamphetamine, because they are in online loans.

Both admitted that they were ordered by the controller with the initials D, an Indonesian citizen who lives in Malaysia, "he said.

The perpetrators received a package of methamphetamine with a broken system on the side of the Johor area, Malaysia. Both were promised a salary of IDR 40 million each for each introductor.

According to MA and MF's confession, the methamphetamine is planned to be brought to Malang in the next few days while waiting for further directions from the controller.

Pewarta : Laily Rahmawaty