The drug package was destroyed by using a blender on Thursday, Director of the Aceh Police's Narcotics Division Senior Commissioner Ade Sapari noted in a statement that ANTARA quoted in Banda Aceh on Friday.
The destroyed crystal meth package belonged to three suspected drug couriers that police officers had arrested in Medan. They are only identified by their initials as IS (43), ES alias SO (24), and HM (24), he revealed.
The drug raid operation was launched following a tip-off that the suspects might have a link to 343 kg of crystal meth that Aceh police officers confiscated in Bireuen District, Aceh Province, in January 2021.
IS told police investigators that he had concealed the seven-kg crystal meth package in a bush near Alue Johan Village in Plimbang Sub-district, Bireuen District, early this year, Sapari noted.
The police charged the suspects with violation of Articles 114 (2) and 112 (2) of Indonesia's 2009 Anti-Narcotics Law, and if found guilty, the suspects could face five to 20 years in prison or death penalty.
Indonesia remains under grave threat from drug dealers, with scores 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 pose a serious threat to the country 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.
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 National Narcotics Agency (BNN) and Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI), Vice President Ma'ruf Amin stated that there were over 3.4 million drug users in Indonesia.
The survey has shown that about 180 out of every 10 thousand Indonesians, aged between 15 and 64, were pushed into drug addiction, he noted.
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Translator: M.Haris SA, Rahmad Nasution
Editor: Sri Haryati
Copyright © ANTARA 2021
