Ex-Bali Police Officer Arrested During Drug Raid And Caught Trying To Burn Evidence

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Bali’s Jembrana Police Department has arrested and charged an ex-police officer with serious drug offenses. I Ketut LW, aged 39, was a serving police officer for Jembrana until he was fired in 2016. He was fired on the grounds of deserting his post. 

Jembrana Police Narcotics Sergeant AKP I Komang Renta, told local reporters on Thursday 30th June that LW was arrested at his rental home in West Tegal Badeng Village on Tuesday afternoon and has been charged with possession of narcotics, use of narcotics, and dealing of narcotics. 

At the time of the raid on his home, LW was caught burning evidence. As police arrested him, supporting team members extinguished the fire. Upon examination, the police found plastic clip-seal bags containing crystal methamphetamine. They also found the remains of a digital weighing scale and a burner phone. 

Officials held a press conference on Thursday afternoon and explained the situation in detail ‘…the perpetrator admitted that the item [drugs] belonged to him, which he got from a person named Edi Bronco by bought it over the phone and picked up the methamphetamine in a certain location”, meaning LW admitted outrightly to trafficking and dealing crystal methamphetamine.

At the time of his questioning, LW also admitted that he has been addicted to Class A drugs for a considerable amount of time and he started dealing to help fund his addiction. 

He has been charged with Article 114, Paragraph (1) and Article 112, Paragraph (1) of the Law of the Republic of Indonesia, which punished the trafficking and dealing of Class A drugs with a maximum sentence of life imprisonment.

His confession of using Class A drugs means he faces additional charges that carry a minimum of five years, a maximum twenty-year prison sentence, and fines of up to IDR 10 billion. 

Jembrana Police were tipped off about LW’s dealings by the Banjar Anyar of Tegal Badeng Village who were growing increasingly concerned about rumors of methamphetamine-type narcotics in the area. Police in Bali are currently dealing with many methamphetamine-related drug offenses.

This week Jembrana Police also arrested Riski Ramajaya while he was walking in Gilimanuk Village, he was found in possession of a clip-seal bag containing crystal methamphetamine. Police then conducted a search of his home and found 91 more clip-seal bags containing crystal methamphetamine, in addition to a glass pipe, digital scales, and other drug manufacturing tools.

The drugs seized weighed 12.37 grams. Ramajaya claimed that the drugs belongs to a friend, Bayu. Ramajaya told police that the drugs were for resale in the Jembrana area and that Bayu has bought the drugs from someone he met at Gilimanuk Harbor. Police are still investigating Ramajaya and have begun the search for Bayu. Ramajaya has also been charged with Article 114 and Article 112 and faces up to 20 years in prison. 

This week the Bali Police Headquarters Director of Drugs and Drugs at the Bali Police, Kombes Pol Mochamad Khozin released a statement to announce that his department is collaborating with Interpol to locate an Australian fugitive who is believed to be heading up a huge drug operation in Bali. The man known by his initial ‘A’ has been identified as a drug ring leader by three Indonesian citizens who were arrested at his property. 

Police found 35kg of crystal methamphetamine in addition to 2.6kg of marijuana, 32kg of cocaine, and nearly 800 ecstasy pills after a tip-off that 50kg of crystal methamphetamine would be entering Bali. The drugs have been destroyed and the hunt for A continues. Police did not give details as to where they think A is hiding out. As they are collaborating with Interpol it can be deduced that he is thought to have left the country. 

Police have not announced whether these three incidences are connected and are currently investigating them as separate operations.