The suspect, identified by his initials as ADM, was apprehended while picking up two bags of crystal meth at a courier service provider's office in West Jakarta on July 21, 2021, head of the West Jakarta Police's Narcotics Unit, Adjunct Sen.Coms. Ronaldo Maradona Siregar, said on Friday.
The suspect hid the drugs in a modified document bag when cops came to arrest him, he added.
He said the case is still being investigated, but did not disclose where the suspect was planning to sell the drugs.
To uncover the international drug crime, the Jakarta police worked closely with the Indonesian Customs and Excise Directorate, he informed.
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Indonesia remains under grave threat from drug dealers, with many from its working-age population trapped in a vicious circle of drugs.
Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, which struck the country on March 2, 2020, drug lords have continued to be a serious threat with drug-trafficking rampant even amid the health crisis.
Since his first leadership term, President Joko Widodo has been reminding the nation of the serious impact of drug consumption on Indonesia.
While inaugurating a grand mosque in Pontianak, West Kalimantan, on January 20, 2015, he had warned that at least 50 people were dying of drug abuse every day. The statistic included those who failed to get rehabilitated, he said.
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According to the National Narcotics Agency (BNN), the deaths have failed to deter drug users in the country.
The users of crystal methamphetamine, narcotics, marijuana, and other types of addictive drugs come from different communities and socio-economic and cultural backgrounds.
Citing the result of a survey by the BNN and Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI), Vice President Ma'ruf Amin noted that Indonesia has over 3.4 million drug users.
The survey has shown that about 180 out of every 10 thousand Indonesians, aged between 15 and 64, have been pushed into drug addiction, he noted.
Therefore, during this year's International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking commemoration, Amin drew the collective attention of Indonesians to the grave threat of drug crimes.
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Translator: W.Marison, Rahmad Nasution
Editor: Fardah Assegaf
Copyright © ANTARA 2021
