Indonesian Sailor Awaits Death Penalty in Sea Dragon Meth Smuggling

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February 27, 2026 | 02:16 pm

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Indonesian court will read the verdict for the alleged drug smuggling, including two tons of methamphetamine, on a Thai-flagged Sea Dragon, next week. The case involves several of the vessel crew members, including Fandi Ramadhan, who is now facing the death penalty.

"Thursday, March 5, 2026 is scheduled for the reading of the verdict," as stated in the schedule of the Sea Dragon Tarawa crew's case, cited from the Batam District Court's case tracking information system. This is confirmed by the Batam Court's spokesperson, Vabiannes Stuart Wattimena, on Wednesday, according to Antara.

Fandi, along with five other crew members of the ship, is facing the death penalty after the hearing on February 5, 2026. His parents, who were present at court at the time, cried out as Fandi was escorted out of the room.

Outside, Fandi knelt at his mother's feet and yelled about how 'blunt' the legal system was in Indonesia.

Fandi Ramadhan, along with his family and legal counsel, claimed that he was unaware about the drugs on the Sea Dragon cargo, as he just started working with the crew.

But the prosecution believes Fandi was involved in the smuggling of narcotics, noting that there is no evidence of coercion in the case.

The smuggling of two tons of methamphetamines was unveiled during the raid conducted by the National Narcotics Agency (BNN) and the Customs Office in the Riau Islands waters near Tanjung Balai Karimun on May 21, 2025. The Sea Dragon Tarawa ship was suspected because it did not hoist a flag. Upon inspection, the ship was not carrying oil, and the crew did not provide satisfactory answers.

The ship was then escorted to the Tanjung Uncang Customs Dock in Batam and arrived around 05:35 a.m. local time. There were six crew members on board, including Fandi.

The five other defendants are Hasiholan Samosir (the captain), Leo Chandra Samosir (the helmsman), Richard Halomoan Tambunan (responsible for the cargo), and two Thai nationals Teerapong Lekpradub (the helmsman) and Weerapat Phongwan or Mr. Pong, the engineer.

Fandi argued that he initially joined the crew in April 2025, when the ship's captain, Hasiholan Samosir, offered him the job to join as a crew member on a tanker ship. The offer was immediately accepted by submitting the required sailing documents. Fandi is a graduate of a maritime school in Aceh.

On May 1, 2025, Fandi, along with Hasiholan and two other crew members Leo Chandra Samosir and Richard Halomoan Tambunan, departed from Medan to Thailand. They met with other crew members, Teerapong Lekpradub and Weerapat Phongwan, or Mr. Pong, and stayed for about ten days while awaiting instructions from Mr. Tan, a fugitive.

Then, on May 13, 2025, they departed with a speedboat from the Surakhon River to the Sea Dragon Tarawa tanker ship, which was anchored about three miles from the estuary.

In the early hours of May 18, 2025, in the waters of Phuket, the Sea Dragon Tarawa ship received coordinates from Mr. Tan. After that, it met a Thai-flagged fishing boat and exchanged a code comprising laminated Myanmar banknotes before receiving 67 boxes wrapped in white plastic, stored in the bow and fuel tanks. Subsequently, the Thai flag was removed and discarded at sea.

On May 21, 2025, a little after midnight in the waters of Karimun, the ship was stopped by Indonesian authorities because there was no flag.

The BNN and Customs Office team found 67 boxes containing 2,000 packages of Guanyinwang green tea packaged in white plastic, with a total net weight of 1,995,130 grams of crystal white powder. Based on the BNN Laboratory test dated June 16, 2025, the contents of the packages tested positive for methamphetamine, classified as a Type I Narcotic under Narcotics Law Number 35 of 2009 concerning Narcotics.

Yogi Eka Sahputra contributed to the writing of this article.

Read: Death Penalty on the Decline in Southeast Asia

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