The amount of smuggled drugs that have been confiscated is significantly less than the drugs that have made it into circulation. Cross-agency cooperation is necessary to tackle drug networks.
By
·4 minutes read
Kompas/Wisnu Aji Dewabrata
A National Narcotics Agency (BNN) official arranges banknotes, evidence of alleged money laundering committed by drug dealers, at the BNN office in Cawang, East Jakarta, on Wednesday (28/2). Security personnel have arrested three suspects in the case, which centers around alleged drug deals made between 2014 and 2016 worth up to Rp 6.4 trillion (US$465.28).
JAKARTA, KOMPAS – The recent confiscation of 1.03 tons and 1.6 tons of crystal meth in the Riau Islands in February shocked many. The National Narcotics Agency (BNN) estimated that this was only 10 percent of what had been smuggled. Furthermore, 71 other types of narcotics were believed to be distributed widely in Indonesia.
Former BNN chief Comr. Gen. Budi Waseso said on numerous occasions that hundreds of tons of methamphetamine were smuggled into Indonesia every year. In 2016 alone, he estimated that 250 tons of the illegal substance was smuggled into the country.
It is strongly believed that the crystal meth smuggled into Indonesia was manufactured in either China or Myanmar, which had supplied only raw ingredients previously. International drug rings often used Taiwanese, Chinese and Indonesian couriers, paying them hundreds of millions of rupiah, as was the case in the recent smuggling attempt in Sebatik, North Kalimantan.
“Indonesia is a good market and its geographical condition helps. All kinds of narcotics are popular in Indonesia,” Budi said. The BNN data shows that there were 5.9 million drug addicts in Indonesia in 2015.
The high recreational use of narcotics is supported by the ease at which they can be obtained. “I was offered sabu [crystal meth] by a schoolmate when I was in the ninth grade. I used my allowance. I regret it,” said Iy, 20, from Sebatik Island, a shared Indonesian-Malaysian territory. The island is only 8-9 kilometers from Tawau in Sabah, Malaysia.
BNN West Kalimantan’s data shows that 65,000 drug users live in the province. This figure may increase with respect to the minimum rehabilitation efforts and massive smuggling from Malaysia.
In the past year, the BNN, the National Police and the military have thwarted numerous attempts to smuggle crystal meth and ecstasy on foot from Malaysia. Border patrol personnel of the 642/Kapuas infantry battalion recently foiled the attempted smuggling of 10.4 kilograms of crystal meth in Segumon, Sekayam.
The Indonesia-Malaysia border in West Kalimantan stretches 857 kilometers with 52 footpaths that link to to 32 Malaysian villages. It is these footpaths that are often used to smuggle narcotics between the two countries. One of the many smuggling methods used is to conceal the drugs in the hubcaps of vehicles when going through border posts.
Various methods
A massive amount of drugs are smuggled by sea, including through registered and unregistered ports, the latter of which is called jalan tikus or “rat’s alley”.
“Indonesia has 28,000 unregistered ports. There are 28 such ports Batam’s in high drug trafficking areas,” National Police director of drug crimes Brig. Gen. Eko Daniyanto said.
The prevalence of unregistered ports makes monitoring difficult. About 65 percent of all drugs are smuggled by sea. In July 2017, the National Police and the Jakarta Police foiled the attempted smuggling of 1 ton of crystal meth in Anyer, Banten. The arrest was preceded by an undercover operation of more than a month.
Smuggling by air is also prevalent. Previous smuggling attempts mostly involved couriers swallowing capsules containing drugs and flying as commercial air passengers. A new method has recently emerged with female couriers concealing drugs in their sanitary napkins, as did DT, a courier of a Malaysian drug network.
DT was arrested at Arrival Hall 2D of Soekarno-Hatta International Airport. Officers seized 532 grams of crystal meth hidden in her sanitary napkin (Kompas, 30/1/2018).
BNN law enforcement director Insp. Gen. Arman Depari said the agency had identified 72 large-scale drug rings with many sub-networks working for them.
The problem becomes even more difficult, as drug lords still control their networks from behind bars. In a recent case, the BNN and the Financial Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre (PPATK) uncovered a money laundering operation involving Rp 6.4 trillion (US$467.2 million) that belonged to an incarcerated drug lord.
Cooperation
Cross-agency cooperation is key to eradicating drugs. The evidence gathered thus far, including tons of confiscated crystal meth and evidence related to money laundering, proves the effectiveness of cooperation. “Synergy between law enforcement agencies, including the BNN, the police, the military and the Maritime Security Agency (Bakamla), with full support from the public, is necessary,” said director general of customs Heru Pambudi. Cooperation had also been established with foreign customs agencies.
Cooperation in detection, analysis and law enforcement is important because of the international nature of the drug trade.
Most recently, it has been proposed that the Money Laundering Law be used in the effort to eradicate drugs.
