S'porean man, 34, arrested after Indonesian police raid Jakarta house used to produce Kpods

A Singaporean man has been arrested in northern Jakarta after Indonesian authorities raided a house used to produce etomidate vaporiser pods, or Kpods.

Indonesian media outlet IDN Times reported that the 34-year-old suspect went by the initials LHM and the alias Hayden.

The raid occurred on Jul. 17 in a luxury house in the upscale Pantai Indah Kapuk (PIK) area, approximately 13 kilometres from Soekarno–Hatta International Airport.

According to Antara, Soekarno-Hatta International Airport police chief Senior Commissioner Wisnu Wardana said Indonesian police "seized thousands of pieces of evidence during the operation".

The home-based operation reportedly began production of drug cartridges a day before the raid.

Was cooking etomidate when police raid occurred

Wisnu said the man was cooking or mixing the etomidate when airport police and customs agencies raided the house, reported IDN Times.

Thousands of ready-for-distribution drug cartridges and mini laboratory equipment used to produce the etomidate were seized in the raid.

Other items seized included stoves and dozens of shampoo bottles.

IDN Times reported that the Head of the Soekarno-Hatta Customs Office, Hengky Tomuan Parlindungan Aritonang, said the police were alerted to the case after shampoo bottles containing etomidate liquid sent from Malaysia were discovered by customs officers.

Hengky said: "When checked, it turned out that the package contained etomidate liquid disguised in two bottles of shampoo weighing 2,200 grams."

According to Antara, this was enough to produce up to 2,000 drug cartridges.

House allegedly rented by another Singaporean

The head of the Soekarno-Hatta International Airport Police Narcotics Unit, Michael Kharisma Tandayu, said the house was supposedly  rented by another Singaporean.

Michael said the other Singaporean allegedly recruited the suspect to produce 500 etomidate vape cartridges a day, according to IDN Times.

He added that the suspect arrived in Indonesia on Jul. 13.

After the discovery, the police and customs authorities launched a joint operation to dismantle the drug syndicate, leading to the house raid.

An investigation is under way to determine how many cartridges were produced and how long the operation had been running.