Jakarta (ANTARA) – The Soekarno Hatta International Airport police confiscated 32 plastic bags containing 3,232 grams of crystal methamphetamine and apprehended a suspect, only identified by his initials as ARP, a police officer stated.
The drug package was smuggled from eastern Indonesia into Jakarta, Soekarno Hatta International Airport Police Chief Senior Commissioner Edwin Hatorangan Hariandja noted in a statement here, Friday.
The airport’s police officers were able to confiscate the crystal meth package after receiving a tip-off that a drug courier would receive the package. Later, the police identified the courier as ARP, he noted.
“The suspect was apprehended in the Buaran neighborhood of Tangerang District in Banten Province,” he remarked, adding that ARP is currently under the police’s custody, pending further investigation.
The police investigators have charged the suspect with Articles 114 (2) and 112 (2) of Indonesia’s 2009 Narcotics Law that make him liable to face life imprisonment or death penalty if found guilty by the court.
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The seizure of the crystal meth package has saved at least 30 thousand Indonesians from being siphoned into drug addiction and offenses, Hariandja affirmed.
Indonesia remains under grave threat from drug dealers, with scores from its working-age population trapped in a vicious circle of drugs.
Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, which struck the country on March 2, 2020, drug lords have continued to pose a serious threat to the country with drug-trafficking rampant even amid the health crisis.
Since his first leadership term, President Joko Widodo has been reminding the nation of the grave impacts of drug consumption on Indonesia.
The users of crystal methamphetamine, narcotics, marijuana, and other types of addictive drugs come from different communities and socio-economic and cultural backgrounds.
Citing the result of a survey by the National Narcotics Agency (BNN) and Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI), Vice President Ma’ruf Amin stated that there were over 3.4 million drug users in Indonesia.
The survey indicated that some 180 out of every 10 thousand Indonesians, in the age group of 15 to 64 years, were pushed into drug addiction, he noted.
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