Batam Detains Singaporean Over 40 Etomidate Vape Cartridges — SkimNews
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- Batam Customs and Excise Office officers detained a Singaporean woman identified as WSB on September 3 at 10pm local time at the Harbour Bay Ferry Terminal in Batu Ampar district.
- The woman was arrested aboard the last ferry from Singapore while attempting to smuggle 40 vape cartridges containing etomidate into Indonesia.
- Etomidate, the substance in the cartridges, is classified as a non-barbiturate hypnotic and a class II narcotic in Indonesia, and is known as Kpods in Singapore.
- The arrest took place in Batam, part of the Riau Islands province, a key maritime gateway between Singapore and Indonesia.
- Indonesian authorities have designated etomidate a controlled substance, subjecting its trafficking to the same penalties as other class II narcotics under Indonesian law.
Why it matters: The seizure of 40 etomidate-filled vape cartridges at a major Indonesia-Singapore ferry terminal signals that Indonesian customs are actively interdicting the cross-border Kpod trade, exposing Singaporean travelers to criminal prosecution under Indonesia's narcotics framework rather than Singapore's own drug laws.
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