The suspect, identified his initial as H, admitted that he had obtained the packages of crystal methamphetamine, but their total weight is not yet known, deputy director of the Papua Police's Narcotics Investigation Directorate, Adjunct Sen.Coms.Supriagung, said.
"H was apprehended around 00.30 a.m. local time," he told ANTARA here on Wednesday.
The suspect told police investigators that he had received several packages of crystal methamphetamine from someone in Makassar, South Sulawesi, who delivered them via a courier service in Jayapura, Supriagung said.
The suspect told police he purchased the remaining packages from a drug dealer he had met on board a vessel, he informed.
H also told investigators he sold the drugs in Jayapura, he added.
Indonesia remains under serious threat from drug dealers, who view the country as a potential market. The value of the 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.
With drug kingpins smuggling and trading drugs in the country over the past few decades, the Indonesian government has continued to apply harsh punitive action against them.
National Police chief, General Idham Azis, recently pointed out that district courts in different parts of Indonesia 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 continue to treat Indonesia as one of their main markets, even as Indonesian law enforcers continue their fight against them. (INE)
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EDITED BY INE
Translator: Evarukdijati, Rahmad Nasution
Editor: Suharto
Copyright © ANTARA 2020
