West Sumatra Police Nab 126 Drug Dealers and Couriers in a Month

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The West Sumatra police apprehended 126 suspected drug dealers and couriers as a result of various raid operations in September 2020, according to West Sumatra Police Spokesman Sen.Coms.Satake Bayu.

The suspects were allegedly involved in 90 drug cases, Bayu told local journalists in Padang, the capital of West Sumatra Province, on Saturday.

Forty three of the 126 suspects were arrested by the West Sumatra Police's anti-drug squad personnel while 83 others were nabbed by police officers from several police precincts across the province, he said.

The drug raid operations conducted in September also resulted in the confiscation of 2.1 kilograms of crystal methamphetamine, 110 kilograms of dried marijuana, and 5,708 ecstasy pills, he said.

ANTARA noted that drug rings keep targeting West Sumatra and many other provinces in Sumatra Island amid the ongoing novel coronavirus pandemic situation.

On Sept 27, for instance, the Pekanbaru city police arrested two drug dealers and seized 13 kg of drugs from them.

The suspects, identified as DE (36) and AS (21), had stashed 13 kg of crystal meth, 10,000 ecstasy pills, and two FN and revolver handguns in a car, Pekanbaru city police spokesperson, First Inspector Hendriawan, said recently.

Indonesia remains under grave threat from drug dealers, who perceive the country as a potential market. The value of drug trade in Indonesia is estimated to have reached nearly least Rp66 trillion.

Users of crystal methamphetamine, narcotics, marijuana, and other types of addictive drugs transcend communities and socio-economic and cultural backgrounds.

With drug kingpins smuggling and trading drugs in the country over the past few decades, the Indonesian government has continued to apply harsh punitive action against them.

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 witnessing the National Police special task force destroy 1.2 tons of crystal meth, 35 thousand ecstasy pills, and 410 kg of marijuana in Jakarta on July 2, 2020.

Indonesian President Joko Widodo had also issued shoot-at-sight orders against drug kingpins.

However, this has failed to deter drug traffickers, who continue to treat Indonesia as one of their main markets, even as Indonesian law enforcers continue their fight against them.

Read also: Police Foil Attempted Drug Smuggling Amid Pandemic

ANTARA