REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA -- The National Narcotics Agency (BNN) and the Customs and Excise Directorate General confiscated some 1.4 tons of marijuana and arrested five suspects allegedly linked to a drug ring in Aceh Province, a BNN officer stated.  The BNN officers confiscated the evidence at the Soekarno Hatta International Airport's cargo terminal and in the West Java cities of Bogor and Depok on Jan 30.

"The drug smuggling activity is directed by an inmate inside the Kebon Waru Penitentiary in Bandung, West Java, who is only identified by his initials, SP," BNN Head Commissioner General Heru Winarko stated here on Friday.

Apart from SP, four other suspects, only identified by their initials as BS, IM, AS, and AP, were also apprehended. The marijuana was transported by a truck and an air cargo, he remarked, adding that the seizure was then conducted at three different places.

The success in thwarting the Aceh drug ring's attempt to smuggle the marijuana was achieved after the BNN officers were tipped off about a truck loaded with packs of marijuana headed to Bogor City.

The law enforcers followed the truck, and shortly after arriving at Baranangsiang area of Bogor City, they arrested the truck driver, BS. They found packs of marijuana, which were concealed in a special compartment inside the vehicle, he stated.

"On the same day, the law enforcers also seized marijuana transported though the airport's cargo terminal," he revealed.

The suspects are charged with Law No. 35 of 2009 on Narcotics in which they can be sentenced to 20 years in prison or life imprisonment.

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 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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