Made Arya Kencana & Arientha Primanita, Denpasar – A row has broken out between anti-narcotics officials and authorities at Bali's Kerobokan Penitentiary following a riot on Saturday that was sparked by a raid.

Taswem Tarib, head of the Bali Justice Office, which oversees prisons on the island, said on Sunday that the raid organized by the National Narcotics Agency (BNN) had not been approved by his office. "They never sought my office's permission, nor the permission of the Directorate General of Corrections," he said.

However, Brig. Gen. Benny Mamoto, the BNN director, denied that his office had acted out of line. "We brought along the requisite warrants and we were accompanied by Kerobokan chief warden Siswanto," he said. "So what procedure did we breach?"

Benny also said prevailing regulations did not oblige the BNN to get permission from the Directorate General of Corrections in order to carry out a raid in a prison. "As for seeking permission from the justice office, we tried and we got no answer."

The raid was intended to seek the arrest of Hariadi, a drug convict serving five years for trafficking. Benny said his office had uncovered indications that he was now running an outside trafficking ring from behind bars.

"Not only is he alleged to be controlling the drug trafficking network from the inside, but he's also believed to be distributing drugs throughout the penitentiary," he said.

He said the trafficking syndicate, believed to be distributing methamphetamine brought in from Iran, was uncovered following information gleaned from five suspects arrested earlier in Java and Bali.

Benny said BNN officials had gone to pick up Hariadi, a former member of Densus 88, the National Police's counterterrorism squad, with Kerobokan officials on Saturday night, where they found him gambling in another prisoner's cell rather than locked up in his own.

"There, we found the prisoners gambling and having a drug party, complete with methamphetamine, syringes and knives," he said.

While escorting the inmate through the prison, however, a riot broke out during which prisoners threw rocks at the officers, injuring Siswanto and another correctional officer.

The officers retreated to safety, but the riot spread. Prisoners managed to break into the warden's office and set fire to furniture and equipment. They also ransacked a prayer room and canteen. The Bali Police had to be called in to restore order and ensure that no prisoners escaped.

Benny said the inmates who started the riot could be charged with disrupting an investigation, which carries a maximum sentence of seven years.