Indonesia’s bid to execute 6 cargo ship crew in drug case sparks liability debate

South China Morning Post · Feb 27, 2026 · Collected from RSS

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When 22-year-old Fandi Ramadhan phoned home from detention last May, he told his mother he did not know there were drugs on the ship where he had recently started work as an engine-room oiler.Indonesian prosecutors, however, allege he was aware of the illicit cargo and are now seeking the death penalty for him and five other crew members of the Thai-flagged vessel Sea Dragon, after authorities said they found nearly two tonnes of methamphetamines on board in what officials described as the largest drug seizure in the country’s history.The case, being heard in Batam in Indonesia’s Riau Islands near Singapore, has prompted his family to campaign for his release and stirred debate over criminal liability at sea as well as the country’s evolving use of capital punishment.Ramadhan and the five other crew members – two Thai and three Indonesian nationals – were arrested on May 21 last year after police stopped the vessel in waters off the Riau Islands as it travelled from Bangkok.Once aboard, police found 67 boxes of Chinese tea that contained a reported 1.9 tonnes of methamphetamines.Fandi Ramadhan with his parents, Sulaiman (left) and Nirwana (right), in a family photograph taken before his arrest. Photo: HandoutAccording to prosecutors, the six defendants were part of a sophisticated international drug-smuggling network.