The drug seizure was another indication of the continued threat posed by local and transnational drug rings in Indonesia.
The drug package was confiscated from RS, 42, South Kalimantan Police chief, Inspector General Andi Rian R. Djajadi, informed.
The police nabbed the drug courier while he was staying at a hotel, after he arrived at Banjarmasin city's Trisakti Port from Surabaya, East Java, with his truck, which was loaded with the crystal meth .
Police received a tip about the drug-trafficking operation from the public, he informed, adding the crystal meth was packed into 35 Chinese tea bags mixed with food products.
RS, a resident of Barito Kuala district, told investigators that he was just a courier who was told he would be paid if he transported the package from Surabaya to Banjarmasin, Djajadi said.
South Kalimantan police will continue to crack down on drug traffickers to break their supply chains in the province, he added.
Domestic and transnational drug dealers consider Indonesia a potential market due to its vast population and millions of drug users.
The value of the drug trade in the country is estimated to have reached nearly Rp66 trillion as the number of drug trafficking cases continue to increase.
On October 25, 2022, Medan city police thwarted an attempt to trade 42 kg of crystal meth by three suspected traffickers in the capital of North Sumatra.
The three, identified by their initials as ZU (28), SMS (36), and IS (42), were taken into custody.
SMS had reportedly received the drug package from a drug lord in Malaysia. He was nabbed while transporting the drugs on the Tebing Tinggi-Medan highway on October 25.
Meanwhile, on December 1, 2022, two drug mules were prevented from transporting about 455 grams of crystal meth—which they had stashed in their anus—on a flight from Aceh province to Java Island.
The suspects, identified by their initials as ZK (52) and MD (32), were arrested by police officers at Soekarno Hatta International Airport's Terminal 3, Banten Police spokesperson Sen. Coms. Shinto Silitonga said.
While ZK is a resident of Sawang sub-district in North Aceh district, MD is a resident of Mila sub-district in Pidie district, he added.
In response to the smuggling of illicit drugs by drug kingpins over the past few decades, the Indonesian government has continued to apply harsh punitive action against them.
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Translator: Firman, Rahmad Nasution
Editor: Anton Santoso
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