inp.polri.go.id - Batam. The Riau Islands Regional Police Drugs Criminal Investigation Directorate has uncovered a suspected international drug ring in Karimun Regency, Riau Islands Province. The discovery stemmed from public information regarding suspicious activity suspected to be related to the storage and distribution of narcotics on Buru Island, Karimun Regency.

The Head of Public Relations for the Riau Islands Regional Police, Senior Superintendent Nona Pricillia Ohei, stated that investigators immediately followed up on the information following the report. On Friday, May 15, 2026, at approximately 2:30 p.m., officers apprehended a man identified as H, also known as A, on Buru Island, Karimun Regency.

"Officers then conducted a search, witnessed by local residents, and found several pieces of drug evidence stored behind the house of a relative of the alleged perpetrator," she said on Wednesday (5/20/2026).

From the investigation, officers secured evidence in the form of 1,800 suspected ecstasy pills with a net weight of approximately 1,067.61 grams and methamphetamine with a net weight of approximately 2,872.45 grams. Additionally, several other items suspected of being used to store and disguise the narcotics were also confiscated.

Nona further explained that, after receiving a job offer with a substantial monetary reward, the suspect was allegedly lured into accepting a request to deliver methamphetamine and ecstasy. The drugs were reportedly received from an individual identified as JO in the waters of the Indonesia-Malaysia border and then transported to Jambi Province.

He added that this modus operandi allegedly involved exploiting the waterway through Buru Island, Karimun Regency, as a distribution point to evade law enforcement surveillance. 

Currently, the Riau Islands Regional Police's Narcotics Directorate is continuing its investigation to uncover the network and other parties suspected of involvement in the drug distribution.

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