A joint team made up of the National Police and customs officers seized a Taiwanese registered fishing boat that allegedly contained between 1 and 3 tons of methamphetamine.
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BATAM, KOMPAS – A joint team made up of the National Police and customs officers seized a Taiwanese registered fishing boat on Friday that allegedly contained between 1 and 3 tons of methamphetamine. The Win Long BH 2998 was escorted by customs patrol boats from the Philips strait near Nipah Island to Ketapang port, Karimun regency, Riau Islands province.
National Police chief Gen. Tito Karnavian confirmed the seizure on Friday. Tito was in Batam with Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati to announce the success of a joint team of police personnel and customs officers who seized 1.6 tons of methamphetamine on February 20.
“We are still working to find out for sure [how much methamphetamine is on the boat]. The investigation is still under way,” Tito said.
Three fishing boats from China have been seized in Riau Islands’ waters this month. Alongside the seizures on Friday and on February 20, another boat transporting 1.03 tons of methamphetamine was seized on February 7.
In July 2017, a special team uncovered an attempt to smuggle a ton of methamphetamine in Anyer, Banten. Anyer is known as a gateway for meth smuggling from China and Taiwan.
“Indonesia is flooded by drug smuggling. Every day in every month, the amount increases. The frequency of smuggling attempts always gets higher,” Sri Mulyani said at Sekupang logistics port.
Finance Ministry customs directorate data shows that joint teams involving the police, military personnel, drug enforcers and customs officers uncovered 342 meth smuggling attempts involving 2.13 tons of meth throughout 2017.
So far in 2018, the amount of meth seized in sting operations surpassed the total amount of meth uncovered in 2017. Over the past two months, sting operations have uncovered 57 smuggling attempts involving 2.9 tons of meth.
Reports said the amount of meth on the boat seized on Friday was between 1 and 3 tons. “The exact figure is not yet known,” said Riau Islands Police narcotics crime director Sr. Comr. K Yani Sudarto.
Kompas/Johanes Galuh Bimantara
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Law enforcement
Tito said Indonesia remained a major drug market in Southeast Asia due to a lack of law enforcement.
He added that controversies surrounding the death sentence for drug-related crime in Indonesia were used by drug lords and dealers. “This, perhaps, is one factor. Therefore, I have given the order to act firmly against drug lords and dealers who resist arrest,” he explained.
Sri Mulyani said 1.6 tons of meth was equal to Rp 3.2 trillion (US$233.6 million). She added that the ministry had signed memorandums of understanding with Chinese, Hong Kong and Taiwanese customs to exchange information about transnational crimes.
The onslaught of illegal drugs, especially on millennials, involves not only meth. New psychoactive substances (NPS), such as flakka and gorilla tobacco, are highly dangerous and addictive synthetic drugs.
Flakka triggers feelings of joy in people who are under emotional pressure. The pressure will multiply when it is not consumed causing users to run amok. “NPS has many negative effects as it is psychologically harmful,” said National Narcotics Agency pharmaceutical chemistry expert Sr. Comr. Mufti Djusnir.
