REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA -- The National Police recorded an increase in the number of drug cases they uncovered in the fourth week of December 2018 and in early January 2019 amid an ongoing endeavor to anticipate the drugs smuggled from Malaysia into Indonesia. This early January, the police have uncovered 469 drug cases.

The number of drug cases that the police have successfully uncovered in early January increased around 22 percent compared to the fourth week of December 2018 when the figure was recorded at 384. Director of the Narcotics Division at the National Police Crime Investigation Department Brig. Gen. Eko Daniyanto stated that in a press statement on Sunday.

The number of suspects that the police nabbed during various raids also increased from 481 in the fourth week of December 2018 to 622 in early January. However, the drugs, like marijuana, crystal meth, cocaine, and ecstasy that the police seized in early January decreased in quantity.

Instead, such drugs as Gorilla tobacco and Ketamine pills got increased in quantity, Daniyanto said. Referring to the police's mapping, West Java, North Sumatra and South Sumatra belonged to the top three provinces with the highest number of drug cases in early January.

The police also remain cautious with cross-border drug smuggling activities, particularly those from Malaysia into Dumai, Riau Province, as well as the marijuana trafficking from Aceh Province to cities in Java Island through Lampung Province. With millions of drug users and a huge population, Indonesia has been perceived by both local and trans-national drug dealers as one of their potential markets in Southeast Asia.

The National Narcotics Agency (BNN) noted that some 50 Indonesians die of illicit drugs every day, while the total number of drug users in the country has reached seven million.

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