The crystal meth package was destroyed by putting it into a bucket containing water and ceramic tile cleaner, West Kalimantan deputy Police chief Brigadier General Roma Hutajulu said.
Speaking in Pontianak, the capital of West Kalimantan Province, on Friday, Hutajulu said the drug package was confiscated during a raid that led to the arrest of a drug courier, only identified as ON.
The suspect was nabbed on Khatulistiwa Street of Pontianak Utara Subdistrict in Pontianak City, he said, adding that he was asked by RD to smuggle the crystal meth package into West Kalimantan.
To convince ON to carry out the cross-border drug trafficking operation, RD promised to pay him Rp135 million (1 US$=around Rp16,218), Hutajulu said.
In trafficking the crystal meth package from Malaysia, ON brought it by using a backpack, Hutajulu explained.
To enable the police to apprehend the drug lord, who is likely a Malaysian citizen, the West Kalimantan police investigators are still digging deeper into this interstate drug trafficking case, he said.
ON has been charged with violating Articles 114 (2) and 112 (2) of Indonesia's Drug Law Number 35 of 2009, and faces punishments ranging from death penalty to life imprisonment, he added.
Drug trafficking still poses a threat to many provinces in Indonesia since domestic and transnational drug dealers consider the country 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.
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.
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Translator: Rendra O, Rahmad Nasution
Editor: Bayu Prasetyo
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