The National Narcotics Agency (BNN), East Java Office, has confiscated 4.1 kilograms of crystal methamphetamine, also called sabu-sabu, from three passengers riding on an inter-provincial bus that the agency's investigators stopped at Warugunung Toll Road KM 741 on Friday.
The suspects, identified as SH (45), Saf (37) and AH (21), were either the drug couriers or dealers, the agency's investigator, Adjunct Sen. Coms. Wisnu Chandra said in Surabaya, the capital city of East Java Province, on Saturday.
The suspects are residents of Bangkalan District in Madura Island, East Java Province, he noted, adding that BNN investigators used sniffer dogs to check each of the bus passengers' possessions.
This inter-provincial bus, which was traveling to Surabaya from Tanjung Pinang in Bangka Belitung Province since Tuesday, was stopped after the BNN investigators received a tip about a package with drugs on the bus, he said.
The crystal meth was found hidden in four Chinese tea bags that might have been smuggled from Malaysia through Tanjung Balai Karimun, before being sent to Tanjung Pinang in Riau Islands Province.
The final destination of the drugs was Bangkalan District in Madura Island, he added.
The National Narcotics Agency reported that some 50 Indonesians die daily from using drugs.
Users of crystal methamphetamine, narcotics, marijuana, and other addictive drugs come from all communities, and socio-economic and cultural backgrounds.
Hence, Indonesia is perceived by both domestic and transnational drug dealers as a potential market due to its very large population and millions of drug users. The value of the drug trade in the country is estimated to have reached nearly Rp66 trillion.
In response to the illicit drugs that drug kingpins have smuggled into and traded in the country over the past decades, the Indonesian government continues to enforce punitive measures against them.
President Joko Widodo has also issued shoot-at-sight orders against drug kingpins.
However, this has failed to deter drug traffickers, as they continue to treat Indonesia as one of their main markets, even as Indonesia continues its fight against them.(INE)
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Translator: Fiqih A, Willy I, Rahmad Nasut
Editor: Suharto
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