JAKARTA: A convict in a maximum-security Indonesian prison masterminded an operation to import 1.2 million ecstasy tablets which led to two arrests and the death of another suspect, authorities said Tuesday.
They told a press conference the arrested pair could face the death penalty if convicted of importing the drugs from the Netherlands.
The alleged mastermind — currently serving a 15-year sentence in the maximum security prison at Nusakambangan — would also be charged in the new case and could face death if convicted, said national police chief Tito Karnavian.
Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati warned that Indonesia has been targeted by major trafficking syndicates who see it as a highly lucrative market.
Police, national narcotics agency staff and customs raided a warehouse in Banten province outside Jakarta on July 21 after investigating a syndicate for two months.
Hundreds of thousands of ecstasy tablets were seized and police arrested a 39-year-old man who told them the drugs had been shipped from the Netherlands.
The 39-year-old said the smuggling was organized by the drugs convict.
On July 24 police arrested another suspect in Tangerang just outside Jakarta with 56 bags of ecstasy tablets on him, bringing the total seized to more than 1.2 million.
On July 27 a third man caught with two kilogrammes (4.4 pounds) of methamphetamine was shot dead for resisting arrest in West Jakarta, police said.
“For this case, then (two detainees) could face the death penalty,” Karnavian said, adding the drugs had an estimated street value of more than $45 million.
Last month police shot dead a Taiwanese man caught with a ton of crystal methamphetamine just outside Jakarta and arrested four other Taiwanese.
Indonesia has some of the world’s toughest anti-drugs laws, including capital punishment for traffickers.
It has executed several foreign and Indonesian narcotics convicts by firing squad in the past few years.
Indonesia says convict organized major drug trafficking ring
Indonesia says convict organized major drug trafficking ring
Machado seeks Pope Leo’s support for Venezuela’s transition during Vatican meeting
- Machado is touring Europe and the United States after escaping Venezuela in early 2025
- The pope called for Venezuela to remain independent following the capture of former President Nicolás Maduro by US forces
ROME: Pope Leo XIV met with Venezuelan opposition leader and Nobel Peace Prize winner María Corina Machado in a private audience at the Vatican on Monday, during which the Venezuelan leader asked him to intercede for the release of hundreds of political prisoners held in the Latin American country.
The meeting, which hadn’t been previously included in the list of Leo’s planned appointments, was later listed by the Vatican in its daily bulletin, without adding details.
Machado is touring Europe and the United States after she reemerged in December after 11 months in hiding to accept her Nobel Peace Prize in Norway.
“Today I had the blessing and honor of being able to share with His Holiness and express our gratitude for his continued support of what is happening in our country,” Machado said in a statement following the meeting.
“I also conveyed to him the strength of the Venezuelan people who remain steadfast and in prayer for the freedom of Venezuela, and I asked him to intercede for all Venezuelans who remain kidnapped and disappeared,” she added.
Machado also held talks with Vatican Secretary of State Pietro Parolin, who was Nuncio in Venezuela from 2009 to 2013.
Pope Leo has called for Venezuela to remain an independent country after US forces captured former President Nicolás Maduro in his compound in Caracas and took him to New York to face federal charges of drug-trafficking.
Leo had said he was following the developments in Venezuela with “deep concern,” and urged the protection of human and civil rights in the Latin American country.
Venezuela’s opposition, backed by consecutive Republican and Democratic administrations in the US, had vowed for years to immediately replace Maduro with one of their own and restore democracy to the oil-rich country. But US President Donald Trump delivered them a heavy blow by allowing Maduro’s vice president, Delcy Rodríguez, to assume control.
Meanwhile, most opposition leaders, including Machado, are in exile or prison.
After winning the 2025 Nobel Prize for Peace, Machado said she’d like to give it to or share with Trump.
Machado dedicated the prize to Trump, along with the people of Venezuela, shortly after it was announced. Trump has coveted and openly campaigned for winning the Nobel Prize himself since his return to office in January 2025.
The organization that oversees the Nobel Peace Prize — the Norwegian Nobel Institute — said, however, that once it’s announced, the prize can’t be revoked, transferred or shared with others.
“The decision is final and stands for all time,” it said in a short statement last week.
