On Tuesday, police and customs officers intercepted the vessel in the Strait of Malacca as it was heading toward Port Klang, Malaysia, and brought it to Belawan Port in North Sumatra for inspection.
„From this search operation, the joint team managed to seize illicit drugs in the form of ketamine HCL (hydrochloride). The evidence was found in 58 sacks with a total weight reaching 1.16 tonnes,“ he said.
Authorities arrested eight crew members, seven Indonesian and one Taiwanese.
Police estimated the load was worth 3.48 trillion rupiah (US$192 million), Suyudi said.
The seizure came just over two months after Indonesian authorities intercepted a ship carrying 1.3 tonnes of ketamine from Thailand hidden inside 65 sacks near the Riau islands.
Indonesia has some of the world’s toughest anti-drug laws, including the death penalty for traffickers, but has maintained a moratorium on executions for several years.