Jakarta (ANTARA) - Head of the National Narcotics Agency (BNN), Martinus Hukom, plans to strengthen intelligence down to remote areas to check drug trafficking in 2025.
He said that the deployment of intelligence personnel in all regions, especially areas vulnerable to drug trafficking, is expected to eradicate illegal activities effectively.
"We hope the intelligence deployment will strengthen early detection to make us more advanced," Hukom added during a special interview with ANTARA on Monday.
As a former head of anti-terror squad Special Detachment 88 (Densus 88), he is of the view that drug crimes have the same structure as acts of terror: both are organized, cross-border, and controlled crimes.
However, they are different in terms of the network. Hukom explained that a terrorist network is more centralized and consists of several factions, while drug networks are more varied.
Therefore, he said he will resort to a continuous pursuit system to eradicate drug trafficking.
According to him, anti-drug efforts must be carried out non-stop.
"In order to eliminate them, we must counter every measure they make. It means we need to have intelligence deployment in all regions," he emphasized.
He then drew attention to the vulnerability of entry points of drugs, especially synthetic materials, from various countries such as Myanmar, and Afghanistan, to Latin American countries.
"They enter through the waters of the Karimata Strait, the Riau Islands as potential entry points for drugs," he said.
Hukom informed that the public should understand that the profits obtained from drug businesses are illusory because drug trafficking causes other conventional crimes.
"The market depends on the community, Indonesia is vulnerable to drug intervention, such as the emergence of many drug villages," he noted.
In addition, Hukom said that President Prabowo Subianto sees the narcotics issue from the military perspective and believes it could weaken the nation and impede the realization of the Golden Indonesia 2045 vision.
"(To deal with the issue) We are building community-based interventions and we will continue to do it in vulnerable areas," he added.
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Translator: Bagus Ahmad Rizaldi, Resinta Sulistiyandari
Editor: Azis Kurmala
