Illegal Drug Business Controlled from Prisons

JAKARTA, KOMPAS – At least 39 prisons in Indonesia are believed to have been used by international drug syndicates to control their trafficking operations. The drug transactions behind prison walls, which have taken place for many years, show the fragility of the security systems in the country’s penitentiaries.

The National Narcotics Agency (BNN) recently indicated that four inmates of the Tanjung Gusta Prison in Medan, North Sumatra, had organized the smuggling of 10 kilograms of methamphetamine from Malaysia from behind the prison walls.

The four prisoners received assistance from 11 other people to sell the methamphetamine. One of the accomplices, Benny, was shot dead while allegedly resisting arrest.

BNN chief Comr. Gen. Budi Waseso said Thursday that during the past few years, the agency had discovered that at least 72 international drug trafficking networks operating in Indonesia had used inmates in at least 22 prisons in the country.

"We can prove the involvement of 22 prisons with accurate evidence," said Waseso. Later, the estimate increased to 39. In fact, almost all prisons in the country have been used to carry out drug trafficking, said the deputy for drug eradication at the BNN, Insp. Gen. Arman Depari.

"The practices of illicit drug businesses behind bars are mostly carried out in prisons in big cities, such as Cipinang Prison and Pondok Bambu Women\'s Prison, both in Jakarta,  Kerobokan Prison in Bali, Medaeng Prison in Surabaya and Tangerang Youth Prison," said Arman.

He added that the BNN and the police had no authority to eradicate trafficking in the prisons.

Destinations

Waseso revealed that the information about which prisons had been used as places to carry out drug sales were found through mobile phone calls made from the prisons to a number of airports abroad. The three main countries that were the destinations for the calls were Malaysia, Singapore and China.

"Our detector is able to capture all the conversations on cell phones in prisons, including what countries were covered by the telecommunications network. It can detect the coordinates of the phone talks," Waseso said.

The four inmates at Tanjung Gusta Prison who have been accused of organizing the smuggling of the 10 kg of methamphetamine from Malaysia were allegedly able to easily order the drugs over their mobile phones.

Ayong, 51, an inmate who had been sentenced to death, allegedly ordered the methamphetamine from Malaysia. Ayong was allegedly assisted by three other inmates, who had the duty to find couriers to sell the drugs outside the prison.

With the help of the three prisoners, Ayong, who was involved in the smuggling of 270 kg of methamphetamine in 2015, allegedly arranged for seven couriers. The accused couriers were arrested in Medan on Jan. 12.

The operations of international drug networks in Indonesia, according Waseso, must be stopped with the involvement of all relevant institutions in the country. "In the near future, we will cooperate with the Justice and Human Rights Ministry to eradicate drug transactions carried out through prisons," said Waseso.

Rotation

The head of public relations at the Ministry of Law and Human Rights, Effendy Parangin Angin, said Thursday that his office was dealing with the influx of narcotics into prisons. According to him, the ministry has tightened security and dismissed the correctional officers who were caught allegedly working with inmates involved in drug trafficking.

"It is not easy to eradicate narcotics in the prison. We have been working on many things, among them adding monitoring cameras and a body scanner. The ministry has strongly reminded correctional officers not to be involved in drug trafficking. Those who are involved will be fired," he said.

Effendy said that the case of the smuggling of 10 kg of narcotics into the Tanjung Gusta prison, Medan, was directly handled by Law and Human Rights Minister Yasonna H. Laoly.

"The head of Tanjung Gusta Prison and its security chief were immediately dismissed. So, we do not mess around with the law enforcement in prisons," Effendy said.

The Directorate General of Corrections at the ministry plans to rotate dangerous inmates to other prisons in order to cut the drug trafficking chains because it is quite possible an inmate who is engaged in drug sales builds a drug trafficking network in a prison involving other prisoners and prison officials.

New type of narcotics

The BNN, in cooperation with the customs office in the Soekarno-Hatta International Airport, had uncovered the smuggling from China of about 50 liters of synthetic cathinones, a drug based on the khat leaves chewed daily by more than 20 million people on the Arabian Peninsula and in East Africa for their stimulating effects. The new drugs were allegedly imported by two Indonesian citizens, Hendro and Edi Pidono. In Indonesia, the liquid was allegedly processed by the two suspects into a blue crystal powder, popularly known elsewhere as “bath salts”, and then sold under the name Blue Safir.

Fifty liters of liquid synthetic cathinone can be processed into 48 kilograms of crystal powder, which is refined again into drinks and packaged in plastic bottles. It produces 50,400 bottles.

"Blue Safir is mixed with a variety of beverages, including alcohol. In places of entertainment, a glass of Blue Safir is sold for Rp 600,000," said Waseso.

Over one and a half years, Hendro and Edi allegedly imported the new drug at last six times to sell it.

The BNN said it had been aware synthetic cathinone was being smuggled into Indonesia for the past two months, but it had been unable to take action because the drug was not listed as illegal by Law No. 35/2009.

"After receiving an approval from the Health Ministry that cathinone is included in the list of dangerous drugs as stated under the Narcotics Law, then we could take action against them," he said.

The synthetic cathinone fluid can be mixed with a viscous liquid and consumed using an electric cigarette, among other ways. The effects of synthetic cathinone include euphoria, heightened energy and sociability, an increased sex drive, hallucinations and eventually irritability, depression, excited delirium and sometimes death. Withdrawal symptoms include paranoia, insomnia, depression, tremors and anxiety.

Arman Depari is worried the circulation of methamphetamine in prisons can be replaced by cathinone. "It has higher economic value and is more easily smuggled," he said.

Night bus

From Jambi, it was reported that three couriers from Aceh and Jambi were arrested by the police for carrying 2.5 kilograms of methamphetamine worth about Rp 5 billion. They have allegedly repeatedly used the interprovincial night bus to supply drugs to a number of regions in Sumatra.

Jambi Police chief Brig. Gen. Yazid Fanani said Thursday the three were arrested in different buses last week.

The director of the drug investigation division at the Jambi Police office, Comr. Ade Sapari, confirmed that the interprovincial night buses had often been used to move drugs.

Meanwhile, West Sumatra Police chief Brig. Gen. Fakhrizal said drug trafficking in West Sumatra was increasing. West Sumatra Police plan to intensify surveillance at the Minangkabau International Airport and the Teluk Bayur Port.

From Cirebon it was reported that a policeman was allegedly involved in trafficking about 4.2 ounces and 3,000 grains of a methamphetamine called Happy Five from West Kalimantan.

BNN head in Cirebon, Yayat Sosyana, said Cirebon was no longer used a transit point for drugs, but had become a drug market. Meanwhile, the police in Tangerang city dismantled a marijuana business groups from Aceh after they arrested six suspects last week. The syndicate operate in the Ciledug, Tangerang city, Banten.

(MDN/WIN/REK/PIN/ITA/ZAK/IKI)