We are still developing the case and hunting down other suspectsSukabumi, W Java (ANTARA) - A drug raid in Banten Province helped police uncover another case involving the smuggling of 402.38 kilograms of crystal methamphetamine from the Middle Eastern region into Indonesia on a hired fishing boat, an official said.
Members of a trans-national drug ring reportedly paid Rp240 million to a local fisherman in Sukabumi District, West Java Province, to rent his boat, which they used to transport drugs from the international waters to the southern waters of the district, chief of the National Police's Criminal Investigation Department, Coms.Gen.Listyo Sigit Prabowo, said.
Speaking to journalists in Sukabumi on Thursday, Prabowo said the drug traffickers took the crystal meth package to a house in the Villa Taman Anggrek housing complex in Sukaraja Village, Sukaraja Subdistrict. They were reportedly renting the house in the elite housing complex to store drugs.
A successful drug raid in Banten Province set members of the police’s anti-drug squad on their trail, and their operation was busted.
In the Banten drug operation, police seized more than 800 kg of crystal meth. That drug case led them to six suspected drug traffickers, who, police believe, belong to the same trans-national drug syndicate, Prabowo said.
"We are still developing the case and hunting down other suspects. The seized drug packages are now being stored as evidence of the crime at the National Police headquarters," he stated.
The foiling of the drug smuggling operation has potentially saved millions of Indonesians from being dragged into the drug ring's clutches, he added.
Domestic and transnational drug dealers see Indonesia as a potential market due to its huge population and millions of drug users. The drug trade in the country is valued at nearly Rp66 trillion.
A report from the National Narcotics Agency (BNN) has revealed that around 50 drug use-related deaths occur daily in Indonesia. However, the deaths have failed to deter other drug users in the country.
In the face of the grave threat posed by drug lords, BNN chief commissioner General Heru Winarko has even proposed capital punishment for those involved in the drug trade in the country.
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Translator: Aditia AR, Rahmad Nasution
Editor: Gusti Nur Cahya Aryani
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