The arrests of RA and AB, who allegedly worked as drug couriers in Bug-Bug Village, Lingsar Sub-district, West Lombok District, along with 11.18 grams of crystal meth had led the local police investigators to the Mataram city penitentiary, he remarked.
RA confessed to police investigators that LF, serving prison term at the Mataram city penitentiary, had instructed him to take a drug package from a woman in the Karang Bagu area and hand it over to a buyer in the Lingsar area.
Based on this tip-off, the Mataram city police's antidrug squad personnel collaborated with the Mataram city prison to look for LF. The police investigators found the suspect, who then came clean about having ordered RA to take the drug package, he revealed.
Indonesia remains under grave threat from drug dealers, as several individuals from its working-age population have been engulfed in a vicious circle.
According to the National Narcotics Agency's (BNN's) report, some 50 drug use-related deaths occur in Indonesia. However, their deaths have failed to deter other drug users in the country from consuming these banned substances.
Users of crystal methamphetamine, narcotics, marijuana, and other addictive drugs transcend communities and socio-economic and cultural backgrounds.
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Hence, Indonesia is perceived by both domestic and transnational drug dealers as a potential market due to its huge population and millions of drug users. Drug trade in the country is estimated to reach nearly Rp66 trillion.
In the face of persistent grave threats posed by such drug lords, BNN Chief Commissioner General Heru Winarko had held a discussion on December 5, 2019, with top security minister Mahfud MD on Indonesia's war on drugs, including the necessity to execute death row convicts.
"Capital punishment is part of the laws that should be implemented," Winarko told journalists following his meeting with the coordinating minister for political, legal, and security affairs.
Several death row prisoners have yet to be executed for drug-related offences. Apart from this issue, he also deliberated on several other matters, including drugs in prison.
He opined that the simplest approach to handling incidents of drugs in prison was to stall communication networks in penitentiaries to halt drug transactions. (INE)
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Translator: Dhimas BP, Rahmad Nasution
Editor: Azis Kurmala
Copyright © ANTARA 2019
