Banjarmasin, S Kalimantan (ANTARA) - South Kalimantan police display the seized 300 kg of crystal meth on Friday (Aug 7, 2020). (ANTARA/Firman)
The crystal meth package weighed 300 kg in total or exceeded that of the local police's earlier confiscated consignment, South Kalimantan Police Chief Inspector General Nico Afinta remarked here on Friday.
On March 11, the South Kalimantan police's drug squad personnel had also seized 208 kg of crystal meth and 53,969 ecstasy pills during their drug operation, he pointed out.
"Congratulations to the joint team of police officers on their success in thwarting the drug dealers' attempt to smuggle the drug package. This is the fruit of hard and solid work by both law enforcers and community members," he stated.
Afinta was also thankful to National Police Chief General Idham Azis for his full support to fight this war on drugs in South Kalimantan by dispatching members of the National Police's Red and White Task Force and the Jakarta Metropolitan Police's Drug Investigation Directorate.
Members of this joint drug squad have been conducting a comprehensive investigation into this drug trafficking operation since July 9, 2020.
This coordinated drug raid operation then resulted in AY and S being arrested in North Kalimantan over possession of 10 sandbags containing 308.25 kg of crystal meth.
On Thursday (Aug 6), the drug squad personnel apprehended two other suspects, only identified by their initials as A and R, at the Siena Inn Hotel in Banjarmasin, the capital of South Kalimantan Province, for allegedly receiving the drug package from AY and S.
The suspects belong to the same drug ring as the suspected drug dealers of the 208 kg of crystal meth.
"The crystal meth packages are smuggled from Malaysia into North Kalimantan to then be transported to and traded in South Kalimantan," he noted.
Domestic and transnational drug dealers perceive Indonesia as a potential market on account of its huge population and millions of drug users. Drug trade in the nation is valued at nearly Rp66 trillion.
Individuals from every strata of society are falling victim to drugs regardless of socio-economic and professional backgrounds.
The drug crisis has also engulfed those from the country's entertainment industry as is apparent from the arrests of several entertainers over consumption and also trade of illicit drugs.
In the face of the grave threat posed by drug lords, National Narcotics Agency (BNN) Chief Commissioner General Heru Winarko sought capital punishment for those involved in drug trade in the country.
National Police Chief General Idham Azis recently highlighted that district courts in different parts of Indonesia had awarded capital punishment to at least 100 drug offenders in the first half of 2020.
"May they soon be executed by firing squads to deter others," he stressed while bearing witness to the National Police special task force’s move to destroy 1.2 tons of crystal methamphetamine, 35 thousand ecstasy pills, and 410 kilograms of marijuana in Jakarta on July 2, 2020. (INE)
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