The punks involved in the drug testing were part of the group of teens randomly stopped by the Banda Aceh Public Order Agency (Satpol PP) and Wilayatul Hisbah Sharia police officers during a recent street check.
In conversation with journalists here, Sunday, BNN-Banda Aceh Office Head Zahrul Bawadi remarked that eight of the 11 punks consumed crystal methamphetamine while three others tested positive for amphetamine and marijuana.
The city's drug rehabilitation center officers have conducted a preliminary assessment on them and coordinated with their counterparts from the Banda Aceh Social Welfare Office, he remarked.
Bawadi stated that the drug testing for teenagers captured during the Satpol PP and Wilayatul Hisbah's recent street check was part of BNN's drug abuse prevention efforts.
As reported earlier, Aceh has been in a state of emergency over drug trafficking, with transnational and inter-provincial drug rings still active in the province despite the ongoing crackdown against them.
Both the police and the National Narcotics Agency (BNN) have continued to clamp down on drug kingpins and their drug supply networks in Aceh over the past few years.
Looking at the physical evidence of drug crimes that the local police and BNN officers have frequently seized, cannabis and crystal methamphetamine seem to be the most commonly trafficked drugs.
Domestic and transnational drug dealers consider Indonesia to be a potential market due to its vast population and widespread drug use.
The value of drug trade in the country is estimated to have reached nearly Rp66 trillion (around US$4.2 billion), 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 using drugs.
Users of crystal methamphetamine, narcotics, marijuana, and other addictive drugs can come from any community and socioeconomic and cultural background.
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Translator: M.Haris SA, Rahmad Nasution
Editor: Azis Kurmala
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