Three Indian nationals among crew detained on Singapore-flagged ship carrying drugs to Brisbane

Singapore: Three Indian nationals are among the crew who have been detained by Indonesian authorities on a Singapore-flagged ship for carrying drugs to Brisbane, according to a media report.

Acting on a tip-off, the Indonesian authorities intercepted the cargo vessel, called Legend Aquarius, in the Pongkar waters of the Karimun district, about one hour from Singapore by ferry.

It was manned by 10 Indonesian crew members, including the captain.

Three Singapore Permanent Residents of Indian nationalities were also on board. They are allegedly the owners of the drugs and had commissioned the trip, police commissioner-general Marthinus Hukom, head of the Indonesian National Narcotic Agency (BNN), told reporters at a press conference in Batam.

The Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore said that on Wednesday, it was alerted to the detention of a Singapore-flagged vessel, Legend Aquarius, by the Indonesian authorities, according to the Singapore Daily.

“MPA is in contact with the vessel owner to ascertain the facts and has advised the company to cooperate with the Indonesian authorities on the investigations,” the broadsheet quoted MPA as saying.

At the press conference, Inspector-General Wayan Sugiri, BNN deputy for eradication, said the vessel left Singapore on July 9 for a private port in Johor Bahru.

While at the private port on July 12, the three Indian-origin Singapore PRs – whose initials police disclosed as RM, SD and GV – loaded the illicit drugs onto the vessel and placed them in the engine room.

The boat captain and nine crew members had earlier been told to leave the vessel and have a break on shore.

The three PRs have lived in Singapore for periods of between six and eight years, and each of them has academic credentials in vessel engineering, said the authorities.

“Based on our interrogations of the three foreigners, they had planned to head to Surabaya, Dili, Papua, then Brisbane, Australia. But we will double-check this, in case they didn’t state the truth,” the Singapore newspaper quoted Inspector-General Wayan.

He also said the authorities had received a tip-off about the illegal shipment from members of the public whom he declined to identify. He added that the vessel crew were not implicated in the crime.

The maximum penalty for a conviction over charges related to the trading of illegal drugs is a death sentence, according to the 2009 anti-narcotics law.

The crackdown on trafficking by Indonesia comes amid soaring consumption of illicit narcotics in the region.

On February 23, BNN and the Central Narcotics Bureau of Singapore agreed to form a strategic partnership to fight illicit drugs in Southeast Asia, as there had been a rise in such crimes as well as an increasing complexity in curbing them.

BNN head Marthinus said that Indonesia will work with its Singapore counterparts to exchange information and data, as well as collaborate on enforcement and joint operations, Indonesian state news agency Antara reported on February 23.