BATAM, Indonesia, August 9 (The Strait Times): Indonesian authorities have seized 1.3 tonnes of ketamine worth tens of millions of dollars from a foreign-flagged vessel, a top anti-drug official said on Aug 9, in one of the country’s largest drug busts.

The authorities received intelligence in February that the MV King Sun was sailing east from Thailand towards Indonesia with “suspicious” cargo, prompting months of surveillance, National Narcotics Agency chief Suyudi Ario Seto said.

A navy warship intercepted the vessel on Aug 6 as it entered Indonesian territory, he said.

“On Aug 7, the joint team found 65 sacks hidden inside the ship. After testing, the items were known to contain ketamine,” Suyudi told a news conference on the Indonesian island of Batam on Aug 9.

The load of an estimated 1.3 tonnes was worth around 2.07 trillion rupiah (S$149 million), he said. Authorities were still searching the boat to see if there was more.

Ketamine functions primarily as a fast-acting anaesthetic but is widely abused as an illicit party drug. Its distribution is tightly controlled and monitored in Indonesia.

State news agency Antara reported that the vessel was registered under a Tanzanian flag and that it was intercepted in waters around the Riau Islands province near Singapore.

Photo from The Strait Times