The raid is conducted while the drugs are handed over at a petrol station in Muntilan, Magelang District
Semarang, Central Java (ANTARA) - Officers from the National Narcotics Agency's (BNN's) Central Java office foiled an attempt to ship 50 kilograms of marijuana from North Sumatra to the province.

Four people have also been arrested in the raid, according to Central Java BNN head Brigadier General Purwo Cahyoko.

The provincial anti-drugs agency head noted that the raid was called after a tip-off received about the shipment of 50 kilograms of marijuana carried aboard a truck from North Sumatra.

"The raid is conducted while the drugs are handed over at a petrol station in Muntilan, Magelang District," Cahyoko noted.

The four suspects arrested during the raid are RK, aged 37, and LMS, aged 47, of Semarang District, who drove the truck that carried the 50 kilograms of marijuana, he stated.

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Two other suspects, YS, 29, of Magelang District, and WS, 22, of Temanggung District, are tasked with accepting the shipment of drugs, the official remarked.

During the drug-busting operation, officers found that 50 kilograms of marijuana were packed in 55 separate parcels and were disguised as orange fruit, he revealed.

According to Cahyoko, the suspect confessed that the marijuana shipment was controlled by an inmate currently incarcerated at a prison in Cilacap, Central Java.

The suspects also confessed that the current shipment is their second, the agency head stated, adding that each truck driver will receive a payment of Rp5 million (US$345) upon completion of the shipment.


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He remarked that the shipped marijuana was intended for distribution in the regions of Magelang, Boyolali, and Sukoharjo.

"If the drugs are sold out, the courier will receive an extra Rp500 thousand (US$34.5) for each kilogram of the drugs," Cahyoko remarked.

The suspects will be charged under Law No. 35 of 2009 on Narcotics, with the maximum sentence of death, he noted.


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Translator: Immanuel CS, Nabil Ihsan
Editor: Fardah Assegaf
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