JAKARTA, Jan. 11 (UPI) -- Indonesian police are holding a Malaysian man in connection with an international drug cartel after seizing nearly $34 million worth of crystal meth.
In a joint raid the National Narcotics Board and the Soekarno-Hatta International Airport Police found the crystal methamphetamine and 357,000 ecstasy pills in an apartment in Taman Anggrek, West Jakarta, the Jakarta Post reported.
Airport police Comdr. Reynhard Silitonga said they also arrested the suspected owner of the apartment, a Malaysia national identified as KTC, during the raid on the weekend.
The raid was made following a tip-off from another man who had been arrested at the airport, but authorities gave no details of dates. The man, who police called AN, was suspected of smuggling drugs into the country but co-operated with police.
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"Based on the information we received from AN, we developed the case until we identified the suspect along with the drugs at the Taman Anggrek apartment," Silitonga said.
Detectives followed the suspects as they made their transactions from Jakarta to Banjarmasin, capital of South Kalimantan province, and then on to the city of Pontianak, capital of Kalimantan province -- both cities on the island of Borneo.
The trail led to Surabaya on Java island and then to Medan on the northern tip of Sumatra island before returning to Jakarta, Silitonga said.
Police said they believe KTC, of Chinese-Malaysian descent, is the ringleader of the Indonesian operation.
"But KTC is under control of the ring in Malaysia along with another person now in a prison here," Silitonga said. "We need to net the Malaysian drug syndicate."
National Police Brig. Gen. Arman Depari said the syndicate was a big supplier of high-quality drugs from Malaysia into Indonesia.
"The ecstasy is produced in the Netherlands, the crystal methamphetamine is produced in Iran, while marijuana is brought from (the Indonesian province) Aceh," he said.
Police also said they suspect a connection with people already in prison in Indonesia, and they have not ruled out the possibility of accomplices at Indonesian customs and excise offices.
The announcement of the drugs bust comes as Indonesia's Supreme Court rejected the appeal of a British passport holder found guilty of smuggling nearly 7 pounds of crystal meth into Bali, the Antara news agency said.
The decision upholds the 20-year jail term for Khuram Antonio Khan Garcia. He flew to Bali on Qatar Airways from Doha, capital of the Emirates state of Qatar, and was arrested at Ngurah Rai International Airport upon arrival in November 2010.
Garcia reportedly gave police the names of his two accomplices, Antara reported at the time of his arrest.
Police picked up Yan Zacharia Santosa, 31, from Jakarta, who was staying at a hotel in Bali.
The second man named by Garcia, a Japanese citizen identified as Morita Yuki, 35, was arrested after he arrived on a flight from Bangkok soon after Santosa was picked up.
