Malang. A Malaysian national is alleged to be the mastermind behind a synthetic drug factory in Malang, East Java. The case, unveiled by the Narcotics Crime Directorate of the Indonesian National Police's Criminal Investigation Department (Bareskrim), is the largest of its kind in Indonesia.

Commissioner General Wahyu Widada, head of Bareskrim, said the Malaysian national controlled the drug manufacturing process remotely using video conferencing applications.

"The perpetrators and the mastermind do not know each other personally as they are controlled via television and audio only," Wahyu said in Malang on Wednesday.

At the synthetic drug factory, authorities seized evidence including 1.2 tons of synthetic marijuana, 25,000 ecstasy pills, and 25,000 Xanax pills. Additionally, 40 kilograms of synthetic marijuana raw materials, equivalent to 2 tons of finished products, were confiscated.

Furthermore, precursors that could be produced into 2.1 million ecstasy pills were also seized. The total value of the confiscated evidence is estimated at approximately Rp143.5 billion.

Wahyu revealed that the Malaysian national managed the synthetic drug factory, which was disguised as an event organizer's office. The office was located on Bukit Barisan Street, Pisang Candi, Sukun District, Malang.

According to Wahyu, the Malaysian national provided instructions to several suspects in the factory to produce synthetic marijuana, ecstasy, and Xanax. The police are currently investigating further and pursuing the Malaysian national.

"The Malaysian national gave tutorials on the production process, including the methods and mixtures. He is currently being hunted by us," Wahyu emphasized.

Wahyu added that the perpetrators and the Malaysian national had no personal acquaintance and only interacted through the video conference application. There was an intermediary who recruited the suspects in Indonesia.

"The suspects were recruited. The Malaysian national and the suspects in Indonesia do not know each other because there is a recruiter in between. We are also searching for this person," he said.

With this lack of direct connection, the masterminds and suspects in Indonesia attempted to break the chain to avoid detection.

The police are currently conducting further investigations and developments to dismantle the narcotics production network.

"They try to disconnect the links between the mixers, the chefs, and the distributors in Jakarta, so they do not know each other," Wahyu explained.

On Tuesday, the National Police uncovered Indonesia's largest drug factory in Malang. This discovery was a result of an investigation into a synthetic marijuana transit site in Kalibata, Jakarta.

From the combined operations, police arrested eight suspects with various roles. Suspect YC, 23, a resident of Karang Asih Village, North Cikarang, Bekasi Regency, was the mixer of the narcotics into finished products.

FP, 21, a resident of Karang Bahagia, Bekasi Regency, assisted in preparing the equipment. FP, DA, 24, AR, 21, and SS, 28, also from Bekasi Regency, shared similar roles.

RR, 23, IR, 25, and HA, 21, also from Bekasi Regency, served as the distributors or couriers of the narcotics. Of the eight suspects, five were arrested at the drug factory in Malang.

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