KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 24 — Federal narcotics investigators are working in close concert with Indonesian law enforcement to determine whether a Malaysian drug syndicate orchestrated the trafficking of 1.16 tonnes of ketamine hydrochloride aboard a coastal tanker intercepted off North Sumatra.

The 57-metre Mongolian-flagged vessel, MT Global 168, was intercepted off Tanjung Balai Asahan on October 20 after Indonesian authorities linked its registered ownership to Johor-based firm Makmur Marine Petroleum.

A boarding search uncovered 58 sacks concealing 1,160 individually wrapped bricks of high-grade ketamine hydrochloride, with an estimated black-market street value of 3.48 trillion rupiah, or roughly RM800 million.

Bukit Aman Narcotics Crime Investigation Department (NCID) director Datuk Hussein Omar Khan confirmed that Malaysian police were formally notified of the massive maritime interdiction by Indonesian counterparts yesterday, NST reported.

“NCID will remain in close contact with the Indonesian National Police to obtain further details of the case and exchange relevant intelligence.

“We will also seek information to determine whether any members of drug syndicates operating in Malaysia were involved,” he said.

Preliminary tracking data shared by Indonesian maritime agencies reveals that the tanker embarked from a docking yard in Pasir Gudang, Johor, before stopping to take on bunker fuel at Port Klang.

The vessel then plotted a course towards the open waters of the Andaman Sea, where regional surveillance units flagged anomalous navigation routes between October 14 and 18.

“The vessel was believed to have switched off its Automatic Identification System (AIS) for three days in an attempt to evade detection,” he said.

Hussein added that coastal radar picked up suspicious circular holding patterns off the western coast of Thailand immediately before the tanker turned back toward the Malacca Strait and Sumatran territorial waters.

Indonesian security personnel detained all eight crew members aboard the vessel, comprising seven Indonesian nationals aged between 25 and 71 and a 42-year-old Chinese national. All eight have been designated as formal criminal suspects.