The suspect, identified as ASH, 20, was stopped and arrested before boarding Batik Air flight ID-6881 that was headed to the Soekarno Hatta International Airport in Cengkareng, Banten Province, en route to Mataram City in Lombok Island.
The airport's aviation security personnel caught ASH, who had hidden the drug package in his backpack, according to acting spokesperson of state-owned airport operator Angkasa Pura II at the Kualanamu International Airport, Paulina HA Simbolon.
The suspect is a resident of Keude Bungkaih Village in Muara Batu Sub-district, Aceh Utara District, Aceh Province, Simbolon noted in a press statement that ANTARA quoted here on Thursday.
The airport's security authority handed over the suspect and drug package to the North Sumatra police for investigation.
Aceh and North Sumatra remain prone to drug crimes as inter-provincial drug syndicate members prefer conducting drug trades and narcotics trafficking operations here.
ANTARA noted that tens of drug prisoners from the two provinces are among the 643 convicted drug dealers that the Law and Human Rights Ministry had recently transferred to the maximum security prison on Nusakambangan Island in Central Java.
Domestic and transnational drug dealers perceive Indonesia as a potential market on account of its vast population and millions of drug users.
Drug trade in the nation is valued at nearly Rp66 trillion.
Data indicates that people from all societal levels are falling prey to drugs in the country irrespective of their socio-economic and professional backgrounds.
Over the past few decades, the Indonesian government has taken harsh punitive action against drug barons found smuggling and trading drugs in the country.
The National Narcotics Agency (BNN) has pressed for capital punishment for those involved in drug trade in the country.
Indonesian President Joko Widodo has also issued shoot-at-sight orders against drug kingpins.
However, this has failed to deter drug traffickers, who continue to treat Indonesia as a main market, prompting Indonesian law enforcers to step up vigil against them.
Related news: Prison drug rings: 643 convicts transferred to Nusakambangan facility
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EDITED BY INE
Translator: Munawar M, Rahmad Nasution
Editor: Fardah Assegaf
Copyright © ANTARA 2021
