AFP | Batam

Email: mail@newsofbahrain.com

Indonesian authorities have seized 1.3 tons of ketamine worth tens of millions of dollars from a foreign-flagged vessel, a top anti-drug official said on Sunday, in one of the country's largest drug busts.

Authorities received intelligence in February that the MV King Sun was sailing east from Thailand towards Indonesia with "suspicious" cargo, prompting months of surveillance, National Narcotics Agency chief Suyudi Ario Seto said.

A navy warship intercepted the vessel on Thursday as it entered Indonesian territory, he said.

"On August 7, the joint team found 65 sacks hidden inside the ship. After testing, the items were known to contain ketamine," Suyudi told a news conference on the Indonesian island of Batam on Sunday.

The load of an estimated 1.3 tons was worth around 2.07 trillion rupiah ($116.2 million), he said. Authorities were still searching the boat to see if there was more.