Indonesian Police Hunt for Two Chinese Nationals in Drug-Laced Liquid Vape Case

1 week ago 18

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Two Chinese nationals, along with one Indonesian, have been added to the police wanted list over the manufacturing of drug-laced liquid vape and happy water in an apartment unit in the Ancol area of North Jakarta.

"CY, ZQ, and H," confirmed Budi Wibowo, Acting Deputy for Eradication of BNN (National Narcotics Agency) on Tuesday, January 6, 2026.

According to Budi, ZQ was the financier in this operation, while CY was responsible for concocting the happy water mixture, and H was a warehouse keeper in Jakarta.

The two Chinese nationals are currently overseas.

During this raid, BNN arrested and named 4 individuals as suspects, namely HS, DM, HSN (men), and PS (a woman). HS and DM acted as couriers, HSN provided financing, and PS functioned as both a financier and mixer.

The suspects disguised the happy water in various energy drink packages under different brands, such as Kuku Bima Energi, White Bubble Tea, JYNNS Nutri King Mixed Berries, and Extra Joss. Meanwhile, they marketed the liquid vape under the Love In brand.

Budi said the syndicate had been operating since September 2025. From this raid, the BNN seized several pieces of evidence, including 10,000 empty cartridges ready to be filled with narcotics, injection tools for administering the liquid, thousands of packages of happy water, 13,000 milliliters of Etomidate, heating tools, and measuring devices.

The liquid vape and happy water produced in the apartment unit contained Etomidate and methylenedioxy-methamphetamine (MDMA). The anesthetic substance Etomidate has been classified as a narcotic drug.

Etomidate falls under narcotic type two according to Minister of Health Regulation No. 15 of 2025 concerning Changes in Narcotic Classification. The regulation was signed by Minister of Health Budi Gunadi Sadikin on November 21, 2025, and promulgated a week later.

Brigadier General Eko Hadi Santoso, Director of Narcotics Crimes at the Criminal Investigation Unit (Bareskrim) of the Indonesian National Police, stated that Etomidate is often misused as a liquid for electronic cigarettes (vape).

Etomidate causes the user to lose consciousness. "They will faint all of a sudden for a few seconds, then have seizures. It depends on each user," he said on Thursday, December 11, 2025.

Despite being categorized as an anesthetic, etomidate is often mixed into liquid vape. This was revealed when the police dismantled an international smuggling network distributing thousands of vape cartridges containing the anesthetic liquid Etomidate.

With the new ministerial regulation, misuse of Etomidate can now be legally punished. "Those who misuse this anesthetic substance can be subject to the Narcotics Law or rehabilitation measures," said Eko.