Pickup Car Modified With A Hydraulic System To Smuggle 16 Kg Of Shabu To South Sumatra, Prisoners Join In 'Playing'

South Sumatra Police Chief Inspector General Toni Harmanto, Deputy Regional Police Chief Brigadier General Rudi Setiawan (ANTARA)

SUMSEL - The South Sumatra Police said that a prison inmate was involved in smuggling 16 kilograms (kg) of crystal methamphetamine.

The methamphetamine was smuggled by the suspects with the initials F (41) and A (48) residents of Pante Bidari District, East Aceh Regency, Aceh. Both have been arrested by the Special Team for the Drugs Directorate in Musi Banyuasin Regency, Tuesday, February 1 evening.

Director of Narcotics and Drugs at the South Sumatra Police, Kombes Heri Istu Hariono, said the prisoner had the initials JM and acted as an instructor for suspects F and A to take crystal methamphetamine from someone with the initial S in Aceh. Then the two suspects were ordered by JM with a salary of Rp. 100 million to send the methamphetamine to the city of Palembang, South Sumatra.

"The two suspects were ordered by inmate JM to take the methamphetamine from S. We are still investigating, while JM and S have been designated as DPOs," he said in Palembang, Antara, Wednesday, February 2.

According to him, the smuggled methamphetamine was carried out by the suspect using a modified pickup truck with the police number BG-9833-NQ in Medan, North Sumatra.

The suspect's smuggling mode, he continued, was a new thing because they deliberately modified the car to be equipped with a hydraulic system so that the tailgate could be lifted.

Then under the tub a special compartment or room was made to hide their smuggled methamphetamine.

"The car was deliberately modified in Medan worth Rp. 35 million. According to the Criminal Investigation Police, this method is a new mode and we will investigate who and where they made it," he added.

Meanwhile, South Sumatra Police Chief Inspector General Toni Harmanto ensured that the police would collaborate with other relevant parties including the National Narcotics Agency (BNN) to eradicate narcotics trafficking upstream.

South Sumatra apart from being a destination for circulation, he said, is a crossing to other areas such as Java.

"It doesn't stop here. We will continue to develop it. From this arrest, at least we managed to save around 909 thousand people of South Sumatra from drug abuse," he said.

Previously, it was known that the crystal methamphetamine was smuggled by two suspects F and A by hiding it in the bottom of a pickup with police number BG-9833-NQ carrying modified palm oil plants.

They were arrested by the Special Team for the Drugs Directorate at Jalan Palembang-Jambi KM 59, Simpang Tungkal, Tungkal Jaya District, Musi Banyuasin Regency, South Sumatra, on Tuesday morning.

When searched, the police found 16 kg of crystal methamphetamine stored in 16 plastic wrappers of the Guan Yinwang brand of green tea wrapped in blue tarpaulin rolls and tied with plastic rope.

Meanwhile, the two suspects along with evidence of 16 drug packages and a black pickup have been secured at the South Sumatra Police Headquarters, Palembang.

For this act, the suspect is subject to Article 114 paragraph (2) Juncto Article 132 paragraph (1) subsidiary Article 112 paragraph (2) Juncto Article 132 paragraph (1) Law (UU) Number 35 of 2009 concerning Narcotics with the threat of death or imprisonment. life imprisonment.