5 Malaysians nabbed in Jakarta for smuggling drugs in their shoes

The Indonesian police detained five Malaysians at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport on Friday. The suspects were carrying 5kg of the synthetic drug etomidate hidden in their shoes. The Malaysians were brought into custody by the Polri Narcotics Eradication Division after suspicions were raised by Indonesian Customs and Excise officers.

Each suspect was found to have two packets of the white powder concealed in the insoles of their shoes, totaling 10 packets weighing approximately 5kg. The five were under the control of an individual known as "Madam" on the Telegram messaging app. The suspects were directed to a hotel in Jakarta, where they were to leave their shoes in a red bag, which would be handed over to a 25-year-old Chinese citizen in the hotel lobby.

Police raided the Chinese citizen's apartment in Mediterania Marina Residence, where they discovered a laboratory producing vape pods containing etomidate. The seizure included various ingredients and equipment for vape pod production, as well as 800 plastic pipettes and 4,715 pod containers in multiple flavors. The police estimated the value of the seized items to be approximately RM33.8 million.

In a separate incident, a Malaysian pilot was arrested at the same airport last July for smuggling over 70,000 ecstasy pills weighing 25kg into Indonesia.