Customs and Excise director general Askolani (centre), flanked by National Police' Criminal Investigation Agency (Bareskrim) chief Comr. Gen. Wahyu Widada (left) and Bareskrim vice chief Insp. Gen. Asep Edi Suheri, displays evidence on Nov 19, 2024, which was acquired through a joint operation looking into an underground narcotics laboratory in Uluwatu, South Kuta district, Badung regency, Bali, during a press conference in Jakarta. - Photo: Customs and Excise Directorate General
JAKARTA: A joint operation between the Customs and Excise Directorate General and the National Police has once again uncovered a clandestine narcotics laboratory producing hashish, Happy 5 and cartridge pods in Uluwatu, South Kuta district, Badung regency, Bali.
"We began to uncover the existence of this lab when the joint team of the Customs and Excise Directorate General and the Narcotics Crime directorate of the National Police’s Criminal Investigation Agency [Bareskrim] revealed the illicit distribution of hashish in Yogyakarta in September 2024,” the directorate general’s communications and customer guidance director Nirwala Dwi Heryanto said in a press release on Tuesday (Nov 19).
“After gathering information, it was discovered that the hashish was produced in Bali."
Based on post-seizure analysis of previous clandestine lab cases, the team has reinforced surveillance on high-risk imports, including equipment, chemicals, and printing machines that could potentially be used for drug production.
Previous joint operations have successfully uncovered five clandestine labs in Jakarta, Semarang, Canggu, Medan and Malang.
"From the surveillance efforts, the joint team discovered several packages containing equipment and chemicals from China at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport, which were suspected to be linked to Vila Wigo in Uluwatu, Bali, a location identified as a potential clandestine lab," Nirwala said.
During the raid on the location, the joint team arrested four Indonesian nationals, identified as MR, RR, N and DA, who were involved in the production and packaging of the narcotics.
The joint team seized a large batch of finished products as evidence, consisting of 18 kg of hashish bars in silver packaging and 12.9 kg of hashish bars in gold packaging.
In addition, the joint team also confiscated 35,000 Happy 5 pills weighing 0.2 grams each, 18,210 Happy 5 pills weighing 0.4 grams each and 765 cartridges of liquid hashish.
The team also seized unprocessed materials, including 102 kg of hashish powder (equivalent to 1,020 hashish bars), 37 kg of Happy 5 pill ingredients (equivalent to 1.11 million pills) and 12 liters of cannabis oil (equivalent to 6,000 cartridges).
Nirwala said the operation managed to save 1,490,000 people from the threat of drugs.
Meanwhile, Bareskrim chief Comr. Gen. Wahyu Widada said that four individuals were still on the loose and had now been added to the wanted list.
The individuals are identified as DOM (laboratory operator), RMD (mixer and packager), IC (employee) and MAN (villa renter). - The Jakarta Post/ANN
