We have been intensifying our surveillance operations and collaborations with other law enforcement agencies to halt drug smuggling activitiesBanda Aceh, Aceh (ANTARA) - Indonesian law enforcement agencies in Aceh Province were successful in foiling the attempts of drug traffickers to smuggle 219.87 kilograms (kg) of crystal methamphetamine over the course of the past seven months of 2020.
Head of the Customs and Excise-Aceh Office Safuadi informed local journalists here on Monday that the success was result of sound collaboration between the Customs and Excise-Aceh Office and the National Police and National Narcotics Agency (BNN).
The packages of 219.87 kg of crystal meth were confiscated during five joint drug raids conducted from January to July this year, Safuadi revealed.
On July 19, the Customs and Excise officers and Aceh police personnel thwarted an attempt to smuggle 33 kg of crystal meth in North Aceh District. Thereafter, another 119 kg of crystal meth were seized during a drug operation in the East Aceh waters.
"We have been intensifying our surveillance operations and collaborations with other law enforcement agencies to halt drug smuggling activities," he remarked while highlighted the need for bolstering intelligence capability to win the war on drugs.
Domestic and transnational drug dealers perceive Indonesia as a potential market based on its huge population and millions of drug users. Drug trade in the nation is valued at nearly Rp66 trillion.
Individuals from all sections of society are falling prey to drugs, regardless of socio-economic and professional backgrounds.
The drug crisis has also engulfed those from the country's entertainment industry, as is apparent from the arrests of several entertainers over consumption and also trade of illicit drugs.
In the face of the grave threat posed by drug lords, National Narcotics Agency (BNN) Chief Commissioner General Heru Winarko sought capital punishment for those involved in drug trade in the country.
National Police Chief General Idham Azis recently highlighted that district courts in different parts of Indonesia had awarded capital punishment to at least 100 drug offenders in the first half of 2020.
"May they soon be executed by firing squads to deter others," he stressed while bearing witness to the National Police special task force’s move to destroy 1.2 tons of crystal methamphetamine, 35 thousand ecstasy pills, and 410 kilograms of marijuana in Jakarta on July 2, 2020.
Related news: BNN-Lampung arrests three, seizes 16.5-kg meth, 8,996 ecstasy pills
Related news: Joint team confiscates 33-kg meth smuggled from Malaysia, arrests four
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Translator: M.Haris SA, Rahmad Nasution
Editor: Fardah Assegaf
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