BALIKPAPAN: The East Kalimantan Police and the Balikpapan City’s custom office have busted an attempt to smuggle Rp 1 billion ($103,000) worth of methamphetamine into the country from India, after they discovered the drugs hidden inside four pistons, Jakarta Globe reported.
Djanurindro W., head of the Balikpapan City’s custom and excise’s supervision and services, said on Thursday that the team had discovered 536 grams of methamphetamine, known as sabu-sabu in Indonesia, hidden in four car pistons inside a cardboard box sent from Mumbai, India on Wednesday.
Post office officials discovered the drugs when they drilled a hole into the package, which was addressed to a resident named Mansyah on Jalan Klamona Gatu, Margomulyo in Balikpapan, after they were suspicious of the content and weight, Djanurindro said.
The package, which was resealed before it was claimed, contained pistons that were neatly cut open and reassembled to allow the drugs to be hidden inside them.
“The way the pistons were opened and closed again is very neat and it is impossible for this kind of work to be done in a common garage,” Djanurindro said.
The team arrested a Balikpapan resident identified as N.M., 39, who came to claim the package.
The man, who is a trader, may face charges for violating the law on customs and the law on narcotics, which carries a jail sentence between six and 20 years and a fine of at least Rp 1 billion.
The East Kalimantan Police have already scuttled three sabu-sabu smuggling attempts this year. All were packages sent from India and each contained two kilograms of sabu-sabu.
“This year, in January, February and this in March, we have already scuttled the sending of packages by post from India containing sabu-sabu, to Balikpapan,” Djanurindro said.
I Ketut Rasna, the head of the Balikpapan city anti-narcotic agency, said that Balikpapan appeared to have become an entry point for drugs from overseas.
“Considering the amount, is is possible that they were to be taken to Banjarmasin, or even out of Kalimantan. Balikpapan is now one of the entry point for narcotics and therefore we should all be alert,” he said.