The detainees are allegedly involved in 218 drug cases, Central Java Police spokesperson Senior Commissioner Satake Bayu Setianto stated here on Friday.
Some 55 of the 218 drug cases were uncovered by the Central Java police's anti-drug squads, while 168 cases were revealed by local cops at city, district, and sub-district levels, he remarked.
Meanwhile, Director of the Central Java Police's Narcotics Investigation Department Senior Commissioner Muhammad Anwar Nasir remarked that seven of the 9.3 kg of marijuana were seized from a suspect in Sukorharjo District.
The suspect, identified as MA, was apprehended in Wirun Village, Mojolaban Sub-district, he remarked.
The police's success in thwarting the trade of some 9.3 kg of dried marijuana and one kg of crystal meth could save 17.7 thousand people from getting dragged into drug addiction, he remarked.
The street prices of the confiscated illicit drugs were projected to reach Rp1.6 billion, Nasir revealed.
ANTARA reported earlier that a joint survey conducted by the National Narcotics Agency (BNN) and the Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI) in 2019 pegged the number of drug users in Indonesia at over 3.4 million.
The survey conducted in 34 provinces indicated that about 180 out of every 10 thousand Indonesians in the age group of 15 to 64 years were addicted to drugs.
The users of crystal methamphetamine, narcotics, marijuana, and other types of addictive drugs can belong to any community and socioeconomic and cultural background.
Hence, instances of politicians, students, and entertainers getting caught using drugs are not a cause for surprise.
On July 31, 2023, the South Sulawesi police, for instance, arrested two members of Sinjai District's legislative body while attempting to consume crystal meth at Maleo Hotel in Makassar City.
In August 2018, Ibrahim Hasan alias Ibrahim Hongkong, a member of Langkat District's legislative body in North Sumatra Province, was arrested over his involvement in transnational drug trafficking activities.
The case led to Ibrahim being sacked from the National Democrat Party (Nasdem), which had paved the way for his political career and his election as a member of the district legislative body.
The government is aware of the alarming threat posed by drug abuse and addiction in the country.
Since his first leadership term, President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) has been reminding the nation of the grave impact of drug use on Indonesia.
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Translator: IC Senjaya, Rahmad Nasution
Editor: Sri Haryati
Copyright © ANTARA 2023
