TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Indonesia is cooperating with Colombia in drug control. The drug has become a global problem and therefore, international cooperation must be taken seriously and intensively.

One form of strengthening synergies is by conducting intensive communication, including face-to-face communication via video to discuss current drug problems and strategies adopted to overcome them.

In the video conference, the National Narcotics Agency (BNN) Building, East Jakarta, Friday, Head of the Indonesian National Narcotics Agency, Pol Gen. Heru Winarko, with the Director of Anti Narcotics, Colombian Police, Jorge Luiz Ramirez, said Indonesia faced many challenges with regard to drug abuse and circulation.

"At present, drug syndicates smuggle drugs in various ways from body wrapping and shipping by sea to packages," Heru said.

He also added that the most widely used drug in this country is marijuana.

This plant grows a lot in Aceh, so it needs a lot of efforts, besides eradication, namely the Alternative Development Program, or alternative empowerment programs.

"I hope Colombia, which is known to have succeeded in implementing alternative development programs, can support Indonesia in terms of the ADP program in Aceh," Heru said.

Another challenge that also needs to be addressed is the rise in new types of drug circulation or New Psychoactive Substances (NPS), which up to now have reached 74. Even eight of them have not been included in the regulation.

"With this complexity, cooperation between the two countries is considered important so that it can narrow the space for syndicates, and in the end, there is no place for them to hide," Heru said.

To the Colombian delegation, the Head of the National Narcotics Agency wanted concrete cooperation, such as the exchange of intelligence in order to suppress supply, including cases of cocaine returning to the surface.

ANTARA