Mataram, W Nusa Tenggara (ANTARA) - The West Nusa Tenggara police have apprehended a US national for allegedly trying to smuggle a package containing drugs using a courier service.
The US national, identified by his initials as JD, allegedly tried to smuggle six envelopes containing cannabis and three bottles of liquid crystal, said police.
"The suspect was nabbed in Lembar neighborhood, West Lombok district, around 12.30 p.m. local time on Friday," director of the West Nusa Tenggara Police's narcotics criminal division, Sen.Coms.Helmi Kwarta Kusuma Putra Rauf, said.
JD was apprehended by a joint team of investigators from the local police three hours after the arrest of his driver, identified as LS, who was nabbed soon after he picked up the package from a courier service in Mataram, the capital of West Nusa Tenggara province.
LS told investigators that the drug package belonged to JD, while JD insisted that it was sent by his in-laws as a birthday gift for his wife, Rauf said.
Earlier, on September 16, 2020, an asylum seeker from Iran was detained by the Jakarta Metropolitan Police after purchasing a small packet of crystal meth from a local drug courier in Boncos village of the Kota Bambu Selatan neighborhood, Palmerah subdistrict, West Jakarta.
The police charged the man, identified as RH, 40, under Articles 112 and 114 of the Indonesian Drug Law No.35/2009. If found guilty, he faces a jail term of 10 years.
Indonesia remains under serious threat from drug dealers, who see the country as a potential market. The value of drug trade in Indonesia is estimated to have reached at least Rp66 trillion.
Users of crystal methamphetamine, narcotics, marijuana, and other types of addictive drugs transcend communities and socio-economic and cultural backgrounds.
The Indonesian government has continued to take harsh punitive action against drug kingpins found smuggling and trading drugs in the country over the past few decades.
Earlier this year, National Police chief, General Idham Azis, said district courts in different parts of Indonesia 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 to wage a war against them. (INE)
EDITED BY INE