Mataram, W Nusa Tenggara (ANTARA) - The Mataram city police, on Thursday, destroyed 2.75 kg of dried marijuana that local cops seized from a university student arrested in mid-March.

The suspect, identified as NKS, 26, and representatives of several related government agencies also witnessed the drug disposal.

Mataram city police chief, Sen. Coms. Ariefaldi Warganegara, stated that the drug disposal aimed at completing the suspect's dossier.

The confiscated cannabis was burned in an incinerator that belongs to the city's National Narcotics Agency (BNN), he stated.

NKS, a resident of Dompu District in West Nusa Tenggara Province, was registered as a student of a local university in Mataram City.

He was arrested by the cops who were informed by the city's customs and excise officers about a suspicious package from Sumatra Island, the police chief stated.

The police officers arrested NKS at his rented room situated in the city's Pagesangan neighborhood area, Warganegara remarked.

Apart from NKS' seized marijuana, the police also destroyed several other items of evidence of drug crimes, including 75.83 grams of methamphetamine.

In the first three months of 2024, the Mataram city police had arrested 33 drug offenders along with their evidence of drug crimes, he noted.

Warganegara said he would continue the crackdown on drug traffickers in Mataram, the capital of West Nusa Tenggara Province.

ANTARA reported earlier that drug rings continue to recruit university students to assist in their drug trafficking operations in Indonesia.

Several drug cases in Aceh, Jakarta, East Java, and North Sumatra confirmed the fact of drug syndicates involving university students.

In July 2023, for instance, the West Aceh police arrested a 20-year-old female student for alleged possession of 22 ziplock bags of crystal meth.

The suspect, identified as AM, was apprehended after local cops received a tip-off from residents of Gunung Kleng Village in Meureubo Sub-district.

In July 2020, the South Jakarta Metropolitan Police arrested seven members of a drug syndicate for selling dried cannabis to university students in the West and South Jakarta areas over the course of a year.

The suspects belonged to a university network of drug syndicates that sold the illicit drugs to students directly and through an online service.

Three of the seven suspects were students of a university in the Meruya neighborhood, West Jakarta, while the other four were identified as an ojek driver, a university graduate, and two workers.

The ojek driver, identified as AS, transported the marijuana packages to consumers.

In June 2021, the East Java police seized 2.8 kilograms of dried marijuana from four suspected drug dealers, including two university students.

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Translator: Dhimas BP, Rahmad Nasution
Editor: Azis Kurmala
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