Police recently arrested three boba shop workers suspected of distributing crystal meth in Denpasar.
Police said the three men, identified by their initials DA (27), MR (24), and ADN (27), moonlighted as drug dealers on top of their day jobs selling iced boba drinks.
The dealers were caught by an officer on patrol in front of the police station on Aug. 14 after two of the three culprits, DA and MR, attracted the officer’s suspicions. When the officer pulled them aside for an inspection, he found seven packets of meth in DA’s pockets.
“After some interrogation, they revealed to have dropped the drugs in different locations, and were going to drop seven more packets,” the head of West Denpasar Police, I Made Hendra Agustina, said.
The specific locations were in between Padang Galleria Road and the Pemogan area, southern Denpasar. Sure enough, four packets of meth were found, and have been confiscated by police.
When police raided the suspects’ shared house, they found 51.7 grams of crystal meth and the third suspected dealer, ADN. In the house, they also found two bongs, a gas lighter, a digital scale, and three bundles of plastic bags.
“The three perpetrators would sell iced boba every day. That’s why we found so many variants of iced drink flavors in their house. We also found some packets of crystal meth,” Agustina explained on Friday.
“Not only were they dealers, they also consumed it,” Agustina declared. “There was also weed found on their bedside tables.”
“So far, there is no evidence [of the drugs mixed into the drinks],” Agustina added.
Police said the three men formed a team to run their underground business. “Two of them (DA and MR) worked together as distributors, while one (ADN) stayed in their shared house to receive orders,” Agustina said.
Police say the three dealers do not directly know their sellers, as they communicate discreetly through WhatsApp.
“The two distributors don’t know the technical side behind the drug deals, and would receive IDR50,000 (US$3.46) for every packet they sold,” Agustina said.
Drug busts have occurred frequently in Bali recently, including the arrest of a bakso (meatball) seller who was caught selling psychotropic pills on the side.
