JAKARTA: Indonesian authorities have been grappling with the recent influx of illicit drugs, particularly crystal methamphetamine and ecstasy exported by illicit drug syndicates in Guangzhou, China, into Indonesia.
The Chief of the National Narcotics Agency (BNN), Anang Iskandar, has confirmed that Indonesia has become an important route and market for international drug syndicates in Asia.
“One of the biggest illicit drug producers is Guangzhou, in the province of Guangdong, China,” Iskandar stated.
BNN has identified the routes of international drug syndicates covering China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Western Africa, he said.
Also, cottage industries producing heroine and other illegal drugs have grown in China.
Based on a report issued by the National Narcotics Control Commission of China (NNCC), almost 13.7 tons of methamphetamine crystal was produced in China in 2014, 75 percent of which was produced in the province of Guangdong and 6 percent in Sichuan. Part of the production was exported, including to Indonesia.
The syndicates smuggled various types of illegal drugs into Indonesia, including amphetamine type stimulants (ATS), ecstasy and crystal methamphetamine.
Various types of illicit drugs have been smuggled into Indonesia by organized syndicates because of the high market demand in the country, Iskandar said.
The main targets are young people, who make up for a large part of the Indonesian population, he added.
Therefore, BNN has been seeking wider cooperation with NNCC to stop the rampant illegal drug trafficking between the two countries.
“We already have cooperation and we are committed to promoting cooperation with a wider scope to stamp out the illicit trade,” BNN Chief Iskandar said on August 23.
In anticipation of the rampant drugs smuggling, the Indonesian police, BNN and customs officials have strengthened security measures at airports and seaports.
Significant arrests were made recently in Jakarta, where the Jakarta police arrested four Chinese nationals for smuggling 94 kilograms (kgs) of crystal methamphetamine, 112,189 ecstasy pills, and 300 kgs of sodium hydroxide.
The police also managed to uncover the drugs smuggling racket after initially arresting two Chinese nationals, identified by the initials YMCB and CSW on August 9 at the Soekarno-Hatta International Airport, Tangerang, the Chief of the Jakarta Police for Metro Jaya, Inspector General Tito Karnavian revealed on August 27.
The two had landed at the Soekarno Hatta airport after boarding a Guangzhou-Kuala Lumpur-Jakarta flight. They were arrested for smuggling six kilograms of methamphetamine.
After the arrests, the police conducted further investigation and detained two other Chinese nationals, with the initials PCP and NKF, who were picked up from a Jakarta apartment.
YMCB, CSW, PCP, and NKF allegedly worked for the Guangzhou drug ring that involves a big Chinese ecstasy player, CWY, who has an apartment in North Jakarta. CWY is still at large.
“In total, state losses stemming from the smuggling of drugs have reached over Rp206 billion, and 376 thousand of children have been saved from meth traps, and 112,189 children from ecstasy traps,” Karnavian informed the press.
Earlier, the Jakarta Police had also seized 37 kilograms of crystal methamphetamine that was smuggled into Indonesia from Guangzhou through a courier service.
“The perpetrators had smuggled the illicit drug concealed in womens bags by using a courier service,” Karnavian revealed on August 20.
The police had arrested Amelia alias Yanti, Deni Latumenen, and a Nigerian identified as Kanu Colin.
During the police interrogation, Amelia claimed to have been ordered by a Malaysian citizen to check whether a package from Guangzhou had arrived at the office of a courier service provider located in Taman Palem, West Jakarta.
In July, the Jakarta police had captured the countrys second-biggest drug haul this year. They had confiscated 360 kilograms of crystal methamphetamine, worth Rp 574.4 billion (US$42.5 million) from two drug traffickers, one of whom was a Hong Kong resident.
Among the arrests made by the North Jakarta Police was the seizure of 12 kilograms of crystal methamphetamine smuggled from Guangzhou by Nigerian national Jhon Ladiord Okori.
In addition to 36-year-old Okori and 26-year-old Jumi Yemita, an Indonesian female, suspected to be a courier, were also detained, the Chief of the North Jakarta Police Resort Senior Commissioner, Susetio Cahyadi said in July.
The police suspect that Okori had frequently sent drugs by sea through different courier companies.
During March and April, the Soekarno-Hatta International Airports customs and excise officers foiled at least eight attempts to smuggle a total of 15,809 grams of methamphetamine, worth Rp31 billion into Indonesia.
Eight separate smuggling attempts involved a Kenyan, seven Indonesians, and three Hong Kong citizens, the Head of the Soekarno-Hatta Customs and Excise Office, Okto Irianto, stated in April.
The Indonesian, Hong Kong, and Kenyan nationals had attempted to smuggle methamphetamine, which was sourced from Malaysia, China (Shenzen), and Dubai.
The biggest drug bust in terms of confiscated contraband took place in January this year when the BNN arrested a syndicate at a wholesale market in Kalideres, West Jakarta, for possessing 840 kgs of crystal meth.
To smuggle the crystal meth from Hong Kong to Indonesia, one of the suspects, known as Wong Ching Ping, had packed the drugs into one kg coffee containers and then mixed them with real coffee.
The perpetrators are facing a death penalty under Indonesias stringent anti-drugs laws.
