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Jakarta Police announced on Monday the arrest of a division head at the National Center for Research, Science and Technology (Puspiptek) in connection with the theft of evidence seized in a 2005 bust of one of Asia’s biggest ecstasy factories.

Identifying the suspect as ST, Jakarta Police spokesman Sr. Comr. Boy Rafli Amar said investigations pointed to theft of the narcotic ingredients at the laboratory in Tangerang.

Police said they were tipped off by one of ST’s employees, who has also been arrested in the case.

“These were materials used to manufacture drugs. They had to be destroyed. Instead, [they were taken] by a division head at Puspiptek,” Boy said. “He could be facing up to 20 years in prison.”

The Jakarta Police chief detective for narcotics crimes, Sr. Comr. Anjan Pramuka Putra, said ST had stolen evidence that had been confiscated by the National Police in 2005 from the ecstasy factory in Cikande, Serang,

“Evidence seized included hundreds of drums containing chemical ingredients to manufacture crystal methamphetamine. Puspiptek had been asked by the Tangerang District Court to destroy that evidence.

Instead, what was destroyed was just a fraction of the evidence,” Anjan said.

Police had spent months staking out the factory with Australian, US and Chinese narcotics officers before making their move.

The factory, on the outskirts of Jakarta, was capable of producing 300,000 pills per week.

Police seized an estimated $142 million worth of ecstasy, ketamine, crystal methamphetamine and chemicals for making the drugs.

In 2006, the Tangerang District Court sentenced Benny Sudrajat and Budi Sucipto to death for running the factory.

Anjan said on Monday that police investigations into the matter began after MM, a man who worked for ST, was suspected of selling the material to another suspect, identified as DH.

“This DH was the owner of a warehouse that stored chemical ingredients to make shabu shabu [crystal methamphetamine] in Bogor. We first caught a dealer in Central Jakarta in April, who led us to another two-bit dealer, until we learned about DH,” Anjan said.

“We arrested DH and seized much evidence, including ephedrine, drums of butanol, and other evidence. DH told us he was buying the stuff from MM and had paid him Rp 250 million [$27,000]. From MM, [the trail led to] his boss, ST at Puspiptek.”

University of Indonesia legal expert Rudi Satrio called for stronger monitoring and supervision by the Ministry of Justice in regard to destruction of drug evidence.

“We cannot only depend on heavy sanctions to scare off lawbreakers. Even with heavy sentences, drug cases are not decreasing,” he said.