REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, TANJUNGBALAI -- The Indonesian Navy Fleet Command (Koarmada) I foiled an attempt to smuggle 5.297 kilograms of crystal meth in Asahan waters in North Sumatra province. The First Fleet Quick Response (FFQR) team of the Tanjungbalai Asahan Naval Base seized the crystal meth after impounding a motor vessel on Sunday, Chief of the Fleet Command I, Yudo Margono, stated on Monday.

The team impounded the motor vessel after an intelligence officer of the naval base received a tip-off from the public, he noted. The naval base followed up on the tip-off by sending the team to patrol the waters, he added.

"The FFQR I team of the Tanjungbalai Asahan Naval Base immediately conducted a patrol using Patkamla SSG II-I-47 vessel and checked every suspicious boat passing through the waters," he remarked in a press conference at the Tanjungbalai Asahan Naval Base Station.

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The team was suspicious about a boat heading to Asahan River. When the team tried to approach the boat, it increased its speed and moved to a mangrove forest in Tanjung Berombang, beside the Asahan River, he remarked.

The boat ran aground with its crew members, who were believed to have run into the mangrove forest. The team later chased the crew members but to no avail.

The team later searched the boat and found 5.297 kilograms of crystal meth.

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