A masked member of the syndicate in custody. (Bay Ismoyo/AFP/Getty Images)

Wong Chi-ping sat quietly. Handcuffed and wearing a black mask, the Chinese national watched as Indonesian authorities put 1,900 pounds of what was said to be his methamphetamine on a table. Alongside eight other suspects, he was paraded in front of the media before authorities forced the alleged drug lord to burn his alleged $136 million stash in a large incinerator. That’s not the worst of it for him. If convicted he could face the death penalty.

Authorities have been on the hunt for Wong for years, according to the South China Morning Post. Wanted in seven different jurisdictions, the 40-year-old alleged drug lord was caught earlier this month transporting his alleged stash in a Jakarta, Indonesia, shopping mall. The three-year investigation targeted Wong’s accomplices, who were arrested on the same day. The high profile bust is reportedly the biggest seizure of drugs in Indonesian history.

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Suspects and authorities burn the stash.

“The Chinese government supports any penalty, any verdict given by the Indonesian government,” Li Bo of China’s narcotic control commission said at a news conference. If convicted for drug trafficking, the nine men could face the death penalty in Indonesia — a country with strict drug laws that resumed executions for drugs in 2013 after five years.

“We have very strict regulation,” BNN Deputy Chief Deddy Fauzi Elhakim told local news media, as Vice reported. “We have very strong punishment for everyone who tries to supply or smuggle drugs in Indonesia.”

Indonesian President Joko Widodo, who has been in office since October, has drawn criticism for not offering clemency for drug offenders, as Reuters reported.

Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran, part of the so-called “Bali Nine,” were sentenced to death in 2006 for attempting to smuggle about 18 pounds of heroin into Australia. The two foreigners are still scheduled to face the firing squad despite many appeals. Hundreds of Australians called for their release on Thursday, taking to the streets and putting on a large concert in support.

According to a report by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, Asia is the largest market in the world for amphetamine-type stimulants. In the past five years, seizures of methamphetamine tripled.

“Every day we have 50 people die because of narcotics, of drugs,” Widodo told CNN’s Christiane Amanpour. “In one year, it’s 18,000 people who die because of narcotics. We are not going to compromise for drug dealers.”