REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA - Jakarta Police destroyed various types of previously confiscated illegal drugs worth 1.1 trillion IDR near Soekarno-Hatta International Airport, in Tangerang, Banten province, on Thursday. "The drugs are evidence (of crimes) and were confiscated in May and June 2012," said Narcotics Investigation Department Director of the Jakarta Police Senior Commissioner Nugroho Aji at the airport.
He said that destroyed drugs consisted of 363 kg of crystal methamphetamine, 1,052,000 ecstasy pills, 118.27 kg of dried marijuana leaves, 194.05 grams of heroin, 1,203 grams of cocaine and 26,930 tablets of happy five.
The crystal methamphetamine, ecstasy and heroin came from Mexico, Iran, the Netherlands, China, Thailand, Mynamar, Malaysia, and Indonesia. While the dried marijuana leaves were distributed by a syndicate from the provinces of Aceh, Medan (North Sumatra) and Jakarta.
The suspects arrested over the past two months totaled 36, most of whom were foreigners. Nugroho explained that in destroying the illegal drugs, police used high temperature incinerators so that they would not caused negative impacts on residents around the location.
In the meantime, Jakarta Police Chief Inspector General Untung S Rajab said police should have a high commitment to fighting the distribution illegal drugs. "People must be involved in the campaigns to eliminate illegal drug distribution," he said.
Soekarno-Hatta Airport is the entry point used by the drug traffickers to smuggle in illegal goods into Indonesia. Earlier this year, customs authorities at the Soekarno-Hatta Airport have caught 21 Indonesian citizens for attempting to smuggle drugs.
As per July 24 estimates for the year, the customs and excise office also thwarted 19 drug-smuggling attempts, seizing 3,749 grams of crystal methamphetamine, 1,923.5 grams of cocaine, 56 grams of marijuana, 300 tablets of happy five, 41 ecstasy pills, and 1,040 grams of cocaine, worth Rp17.091 billion in total. The figure has plunged from 24 cases witnessed in the same period last year, he said.