JAKARTA (Oct 23): Indonesian authorities seized 1.16 tonnes of ketamine on a Mongolian-flagged vessel from Malaysia in the waters of North Sumatra province earlier this week, the country's national police chief Suyudi Ario Seto said on Friday.

Indonesian authorities, including the police and the customs office, apprehended the tanker in the waters of Tanjung Balai off the province earlier this week, Seto said.

They arrested seven Indonesians and one Taiwanese national, Seto said, including the captain, engineers, and an oiler.

The ketamine was found in 58 sacks weighing 1.16 tonnes, Seto said

He said the street value of the haul amounted to 3.48 trillion rupiah (US$192.64 million).

The tanker departed from Pasir Gudang in Malaysia, transited through the Malacca Strait and headed to the Andaman Sea, where authorities believe it conducted a ship-to-ship transfer to receive the ketamine.

Authorities had noticed "anomalies" in the vessel's automatic identification system before apprehending it, Seto said.

The amount of drugs proved how destructive "international syndicates are to our national security", he added.

Indonesia has strict drug laws and in 2015 executed two Australians in the "Bali Nine" drug ring for attempting to smuggle heroin out of the resort island of Bali.

Uploaded by Lam Seng Fatt