"We are hunting the crystal meth owner and those having ordered the drug packages," Deputy Chief of South Sumatra Police's Narcotics Investigation Department Adjunct Sen. Coms. Haris Sandi stated here, Wednesday.
The cops had arrested J, D, and F, who attempted to deliver two kg of crystal meth along with 4,010 ecstasy pills from Medan, North Sumatra, to Musi Rawas Utara District in South Sumatra Province, he remarked.
Three other drug couriers, identified as DS, A, and A, had also been apprehended for transporting one kg of crystal meth to Palembang City, he revealed without elaborating when and where their arrests took place.
The South Sumatra police investigators have charged the six drug couriers of having breached Articles 114 (2), 132 (1), and 112 (2) of Indonesia's Drug Law No. 35 of 2009.
They could receive life imprisonment or death penalty if the South Sumatra court found them guilty of having violated the drug law, he remarked.
Related news: Aceh police destroy 112 kg of meth from international drug ring
Domestic and transnational drug dealers consider Indonesia to be a potential market due to its vast population and millions of drug users.
The value of drug trade in the country is estimated to have reached nearly Rp66 trillion, with the number of drug trafficking cases continuing to surge.
The National Police recently claimed to have crippled the drug rings of Fredy Pratama, a drug lord hunted down for trafficking 10.2 tons of crystal meth and 116,346 ecstasy pills in Indonesia from 2020 to 2023.
Over the past three years, the police had uncovered 408 drug cases related to Pramata's network and arrested 884 suspects, Director of the National Police's Narcotics Investigation Division, Brig. Gen. Mukti Juharsa, stated.
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.
Related news: Police claim having crippled Fredy Pratama's drug ring in Indonesia
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Translator: MI Pramana, Rahmad Nasution
Editor: Yuni Arisandy Sinaga
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