Jakarta (ANTARA) - Indonesia’s Ministry of Immigration and Correctional Services announced on Sunday that it has transferred 100 inmates from penitentiaries in North Sumatra to the maximum-security prison island of Nusakambangan in Central Java.
The high-profile inmates were relocated on Saturday, June 14, according to Rika Aprianti, head of the ministry’s Sub-Directorate of Cooperation in Correctional Services, in a press statement.
Their transfer is part of the ministry's efforts to eradicate drug trafficking operations that continue to be orchestrated from within North Sumatra prisons, she said.
Aprianti said that contraband cell phones and the circulation of drugs among inmates remain a serious threat to public safety and must be addressed.
She added that Minister of Immigration and Correctional Services Agus Andrianto has consistently upheld a zero-tolerance policy toward both contraband cell phones and drug trafficking inside correctional facilities.
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Aprianti explained that the transfer also aims to encourage better behavior among the inmates. She expressed hope that the transferred inmates would change their mindset and behavior after serving the remainder of their prison terms in Nusakambangan.
She also noted that around 1,000 inmates in Indonesia have so far been transferred to the prison island since Andrianto assumed office.
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North Sumatra is ranked as the third most vulnerable province in Indonesia for drug-related crimes, according to the National Narcotics Agency (BNN), with an estimated 3.06 percent of the province’s population classified as drug users.
