"Aceh's eastern coastal areas have several routes and small ports prone to smuggling activities of illicit drugs, particularly crystal methamphetamine," Aceh Police Chief Inspector General Wahyu Widada was quoted by ANTARA as saying here, Saturday.
The province's eastern coastline has frequently been used by transnational drug syndicates as their entry points for smuggling illicit drug packages into Indonesia.
Hence, intensifying marine patrols is deemed critical to break the supply chain of illicit drugs from overseas. In this way, the Aceh police can save Acehnese youth from getting siphoned into the vicious cycle of drug addiction, he remarked.
To crack down on drug rings, the Aceh police could not work single-handedly. Instead, forging synergy with other related government agencies is the pressing need of the hour on account of Aceh Province's vast eastern coastline and proximity to neighboring countries' borderlines, he stated.
Within a month, Aceh police officers launched two drug raid operations in East Aceh District that resulted in 141 kilograms of crystal methamphetamine being confiscated and 15 suspects being arrested, he remarked.
Two other suspected drug dealers were gunned down after they threatened the cops attempting to arrest them, he noted.
Widada emphasized that all drug dealers apprehended in Aceh will be charged for violating Indonesia's 2009 Narcotics Law and Countermeasure and Eradication of Money Laundering (TPPU) Law.
Under the TPPU Law, the wealth of the arrested drug lords could be seized to prevent them from conducting their illicit drug businesses, he noted in his early press statement.
Implementation of the TPPU Law in the Aceh police's war on drugs is aimed at breaking the chain of drug trafficking networks, he noted, adding that the drug lords had ruined the lives of Acehnese youngsters through their unpardonable acts.
"Many of them join the drug ring. Abusing illicit drugs may potentially trigger other crimes," Widada cautioned.
Indonesia remains under grave threat from drug dealers, who perceive the country as a potential market. The value of drug trade in Indonesia is estimated to have reached at least Rp66 trillion.
Users of crystal methamphetamine, narcotics, marijuana, and other types of addictive drugs transcend communities and socio-economic and cultural backgrounds.
The Indonesian government has continued to take harsh punitive action against drug kingpins smuggling and trading drugs in the country over the past few decades.
National Police Chief General Idham Azis recently stated 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 witnessing the National Police special task force destroy 1.2 tons of crystal meth, 35 thousand ecstasy pills, and 410 kg of marijuana in Jakarta on July 2, 2020.
Indonesian President Joko Widodo had also issued shoot-at-sight orders against drug kingpins.
However, this has failed to deter drug traffickers, who treat Indonesia as one of their key markets, even as Indonesian law enforcers continue to wage a fight against them. Related news: Police thwart attempt to smuggle 81kg of drugs from Malaysia
Related news: Aceh drug dealers charged with violating narcotics, TPPU laws: police
EDITED BY INE
Translator: M.Haris A, Rahmad Nasution
Editor: Suharto
Copyright © ANTARA 2020
