The regions have been prioritized for surveillance by the ministry's anti-narcotics desk as they frequently serve as trans-national drug trafficking routes, he informed in Batam city, Riau Islands province, on Thursday.
The regions comprise Aceh, North Sumatra, Riau, Riau Islands, Jambi, South Sumatra, West Kalimantan, North Kalimantan, East Kalimantan, and the entire west coast of Sulawesi, the minister said.
They account for the majority of drug smuggling cases in the country, he added.
Increasing supervision in these regions would allow Indonesia to identify and disrupt international drug trafficking and smuggling operations in advance, he informed.
He then highlighted the need for working closely with the International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol) in handling cross-border drug offenders.
On May 22, 2025, the Indonesian law enforcement agencies seized two tons of crystal methamphetamine from the Sea Dragon Terawa ship sailing from the Andaman Sea to Riau Islands, he said.
The drugs were hidden in 67 cardboard boxes and wrapped in packaging that is usually used by drug smugglers from the Golden Triangle, Gunawan said.
As reported earlier, drug lords still see Indonesia as a potential market due to its vast population and millions of drug users. The value of the drug trade in the country is estimated to have reached about Rp66 trillion (around US$4.3 billion).
Hence, Indonesia has seen drug addiction spiral into a life-threatening problem for millions of its people.
A survey conducted by the National Narcotics Agency (BNN) and the Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI) pegs the number of drug users in Indonesia at 3.4 million.
As per the survey, around 180 out of every 10 thousand Indonesians, aged between 15 and 64 years, have fallen prey to drug addiction.
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Translator: Rahmad Nasution
Editor: Arie Novarina
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