The drug raid operation also led to the arrests of two drug couriers, believed to be members of a Sumatra-Java drug syndicate, Jakarta Metropolitan Police Chief Inspector General Nana Sudjana stated.
The suspects, only identified by their initials as AP alias B and HG alias B, attempted to transport the crystal meth packages from the islands of Sumatra to Java by loading bricks to conceal them, he notified journalists here, Monday.
The truck was intercepted at the Lemigas complex area on South Jakarta's Cipulir Road at around 1 a.m. local time.
The police officers apprehended AP and HG at the scene of the crime, he remarked, adding that the drug packages were placed in six silver plastic bags and then concealed among the bricks.
This drug case was exposed following the arrest of a couple in the Cipete neighborhood area in mid-June of 2020. Police investigators seized 70 grams of red crystal meth, or locally called the Colombian crystal meth, from the couple, he stated.
The police have charged AP and HG under the Indonesian drug law on account of which they face a 20-year jail term and can be fined up to Rp10 billion, he remarked.
Domestic and transnational drug dealers view 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.
People from all sections of society are falling prey to drugs, regardless of their socio-economic and professional backgrounds.
Those from the country's entertainment industry have also been siphoned into this drug crisis, as is apparent from the arrests of several entertainers over consumption and also trade of illicit drugs.
In the wake of the serious 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.
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Translator: Laily R, Rahmad Nasution
Editor: Fardah Assegaf
Copyright © ANTARA 2020
