Instead of joining those on the frontline in the country's endless war on drugs, several civil servants and police officers are committing drug offences.
Over the course of the past two years, several police officers and civil servants have been arrested and dismissed from government services over cases of drug abuse and trafficking.
A prison officer at the Tembilahan Class II A Penitentiary in Indragiri Hilir District, Riau Province, was most recently dismissed over a drug trafficking case.
Head of the Tembilahan Class II A Penitentiary Julianto Budhi Prastyono remarked that the prison officer's dismissal was announced during a roll call held early this week.
The Tembilahan district court's panel of judges had sentenced the prison officer, only identified by his initial H, to four years in prison based on their verdict in 2017.
A police officer from the Mengwi police precinct in Badung District, Bali Province, had also gotten involved in drug dealings. He was arrested in Denpasar on May 8, 2021.
As a result, he was then discharged from his duties before being dismissed from police service, according to Badung Police Chief, Adjunct Sen. Coms. Roby Septiadi.
He did not divulge the cop's identity. At the time of his arrest, Denpasar police's anti-drug squad had seized 84 grams of crystal methamphetamine from him.
In May this year, the National Narcotics Agency (BNN) had also apprehended a policeman in Mukomuko District, Bengkulu Province, on charges of trafficking drugs over a period of five years.
The officer was identified as 1st Adjunct Inspector ES, 43, the BNN-Bengkulu Office head, Brig. Gen. Toga Habinsar Panjaitan, had stated on May 25, 2021.
In February this year, the West Java Police's Internal Affairs Division (Propam) had also detained 12 policemen, including chief of the Astanaanyar district police precinct, for alleged narcotic consumption.
In November last year, a police officer in Deli Serdang District, North Sumatra Province, was sacked over his involvement in a drug-related offense.
In June last year, another policeman was arrested for consuming drugs at a hotel in Mataram, the capital of West Nusa Tenggara Province.
The policeman, identified as EW, and three other people were reportedly caught consuming crystal meth during a raid and placed under police custody. Some 19 grams of crystal meth were also seized from them.
In response to this challenging reality, National Police Chief General Listyo Sigit Prabowo has instructed the police's Propam to take stern actions against errant cops for their involvement in drug crimes.
In the midst of police and other law enforcement agencies' ongoing war on drugs, the Indonesian Transportation Ministry was taken aback by last year's arrest of one of its civil servants.
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The civil servant working for the Ngurah Rai International Airport in Bali was apprehended by the Hang Nadim International Airport security personnel in Riau Islands Province on August 22, 2020.
He was identified as Reno Dwi Putra, who was arrested along with his female companion for allegedly carrying three kilograms of crystal methamphetamine from Pekanbaru, the capital of Riau Province, to Surabaya, the capital of East Java Province.
Putra notified police investigators that he had successfully carried the crystal meth packages thrice at various airports since he was wearing the Transportation Ministry's official uniform and ID card.
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The Transportation Ministry praised the Hang Nadim International Airport security personnel in Batam City, Riau Islands Province, for arresting Putra over attempted smuggling of the three-kilogram crystal methamphetamine package.
The ministry has expressed disappointment over the revelation of attempted smuggling by the civil servant of the Transportation Ministry's Air Transportation Directorate General and lauded the airport's aviation security personnel, the ministry's spokesperson, Adita Irawati, had noted in a press statement last year.
During the arrest by the Hang Nadim Airport security personnel, the civil servant was dressed in the ministry's official uniform. However, he did not actually make a business trip, she stated.
Irawati believes that Putra's arrest would help break the chain of drug smuggling operation and would also be an eye-opener and a good lesson for others.
The arrests of those state apparatuses over drug offences have again demonstrated that
Indonesia does remain under serious threat from drug dealers, as anybody can get trapped in the vicious circle of drug rings.
Such incidents are an alarm bell for Indonesia, but the citizens should at all costs win the war on drugs for the sake of the nation's safety and future glory in 2045.
Related news: Riau's prison officer discharged from duty over drug trafficking case
Related news: Bali cop arrested for trafficking drugs
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