Banjarmasin, S Kalimantan (ANTARA) - The South Kalimantan Police's Drug Investigation Directorate finally busted the kingpin of 208 kg crystal meth and 53.969 ecstasy pills, which were uncovered on March 13, 2020.
"We make sure he is the owner and control. We picked him up from the Tarakan Prison. This is our commitment to disclose the drug ring on the orders of South Kalimantan Regional Police Chief Ins.Gen. Yazid Fanani that the kingpin should be caught," Director of Drug Investigation Sr Comr (Kombes) Iwan Eka Putra stated, when he was confirmed by ANTARA News, Saturday (April 11, 2020).
The big drug trafficker named Hendra Sabarudin alias Udin was identified as controlling hundreds of kilograms of narcotics supplied to South Kalimantan after police conducted a long search.
Starting with the arrest of Dimas on Jalan Ahmad Yani Km 274, Jaro, Tabalong District, South Kalimantan, while smuggling hundreds of kilograms of drugs from Malaysia by road. Police continue to expand the case to Samarinda, East Kalimantan.
In Samarinda, the suspect Wawan an Jun was arrested with evidence of seven kg of crystal meth, 898 ecstasy pills, and Rp1,100,000,000 in cash.
The police then further expanded the fund flow by blocking several bank accounts. On April 4, 2020, Sulistyo was secured for suspected of committing money laundering (TPPU) ordered by Hendra Sabarudin.
From here then the police traced that the bookie was a prisoner in the Tarakan Prison.
Read also: Sout Kalimantan unites to fight against COVID-19
Read also: Air Force distributes 60 coli of PPE for South Kalimantan
"So we borrow him for an examination, because of his status of a prisoner is under the authority of the prison," said Iwan, who was accompanied by Deputy Director Adj Sr Comr (AKBP) Budi Hermanto and Head of Subdirectorate 2 Comr (Kompol) Ugeng Sudia Permana.
Iwan revealed that the bookie was convicted of drug cases with the threat of life sentence to the death sentence that was still in process.
In particular, Iwan thanked the Directorate General of Correctional of the Ministry of Law and Human Rights and staff for their good cordination and permission for the transfer of prisoner for examination at the South Kalimantan Regional Police.
Read also: S Kalimantan's Forestry spearheads chili planting movement to tackle inflation
Iwan also expressed his gratitude to Tarakan Police and North Kalimantan Regional Police Mobile Brigade Unit who assisted in the evacuation process of the bookie from inside the prison to be taken to Juwata Tarakan International Airport, North Kalimantan, to be flown to Banjarmasin Syamsudin Noor International Airport.
As is known, the South Kalimantan Police success of thwarting the smuggling effort of the fantastic amount of drug was the largest national record for regional police level after the Metro Jaya Regional Police thwarted an attempt to circulate 288 kg of crystal meth in Pagedangan, Tangerang, and three perpetrators were shot dead in the arrest in late January 2020.
Read also: Pertamina guarantees sufficient fuel supply for South Kalimantan
