The drug transaction could be thwarted after the police investigators received a tip-off. The prison officer only identified by his initials RB was arrested," Director of the West Kalimantan Police's Narcotics Unit Senior Commissioner Gembong Yudha said here on Sunday.
The police investigators revealed that the suspect would have handed over the drug to Samsul alias Isam, an inmate of the Singkawang Penitentiary. The crystal meth belonged to Mawardi alias abah who is also serving his sentence at the prison, he said.
The suspects had been detained by the West Kalimantan Police for further investigation, he said, adding that community members were suggested to help the police's war on drug dealers by giving them tips-off.
To step up its drugs crackdown, the West Kalimantan National Narcotics Agency (BNN) here, Monday, destroyed 1.3 kilograms of crystal methamphetamine that its officers had seized from two suspects arrested during a recent raid.
ANTARA noted that West Kalimantan has continuously been targeted by drug rings. On April 26, the West Kalimantan National Narcotics Agency (BNN) conducted a raid at a cemetery in Siantan Tengah Village, Pontianak Utara Subdistrict.
During the raid, the BNN officers took into custody Maskur and Badol along with 10 small packs of meth, cash worth Rp169 million, two motorbikes, cellular phones, and several bank account books.
During a confession to BNN investigators, Maskur and Badol admitted to having purchased the drug from two local narcotics dealers -- Sule and Rini -- residing in Beting Village, Pontianak Timur Sub-district.
In March, the BNN also confiscated 100 kilograms of crystal methamphetamine and ecstasy pills from a suspect that the anti-drug squad personnel had detained in Bengkayang District, West Kalimantan Province.
The crystal meth and ecstasy pills were packaged in 106 plastic bags that the suspect, only identified by his initials HEN, hid in five separate fish boxes, BNN Eradication Deputy Inspector General Arman Depari revealed.
The BNN investigators took HEN into custody in Sungai Duri Village of Sungai Raya Sub-district, Bengkayang District, West Kalimantan Province, he revealed.
Local and transnational drug dealers view Indonesia as one of their potential markets in Southeast Asia owing to its vast population and several million drug users.
The BNN remarked that the consumption of illicit drugs claimed the lives of some 50 Indonesians daily, while the total drug users in the country had reached seven million, while the drug trade in Indonesia is estimated to have reached at least Rp66 trillion.
Taking into account this grim reality, drug trafficking activities have turned out to be a constant threat to Indonesia's security and human resources.
To win the war against drug dealers, stringent punishments, including imposing death penalties on them, are the pressing need of the hour.
Related news: Langkat prison riot erupted after inmate caught with meth
Related news: Aceh BNN seizes 17 kilograms of crystal meth
Related news: Jambi police arrest civil servant for alleged drug smuggling
Translator: Andilala, Rahmad Nasution
Editor: Azizah Fitriyanti
Copyright © ANTARA 2019
