The Jakarta Police narcotics division says that its officers have arrested 549 suspects in 434 separate drug cases in its annual “Nila Jaya” city-wide drug crackdown.
“Some of the suspects had managed to evade arrest for the past few years and have been our targets since 2010,” narcotics chief Sr. Comr. Nugroho Aji told reporters at a press conference on Friday.
Officers detained 531 Indonesian men and 16 Indonesian women in the raids between June 1 and 20. A Chinese and a Brazilian citizen were also arrested.
The police said 407 suspects were arrested for selling drugs on the street, 136 were higher-level dealers, two were drug smugglers and two were prisoners who were masterminding drug syndicates from behind bars.
“Most were arrested in residential areas all over Greater Jakarta, including Sunter, Penjaringan and Pademangan in North Jakarta; Taman Sari in West Jakarta; and Sawah Besar in Central Jakarta,” Nugroho said.
Two of the areas mentioned, Taman Sari and Sawah Besar, are infamous for nocturnal criminal activity, including narcotics sales and prostituion, among other offenses.
Apriyani Susanti reportedly bought and consumed ecstasy a few hours before the incident at the Stadium nightclub in Taman Sari just hours before she crashed her vehicle into 13 pedestrians, killing nine of them, in Gambir, Central Jakarta, earlier this year,
Jakarta Police spokesman Sr. Comr. Rikwanto, who was also present during the press conference, said that officers had also confiscated 47 kilograms of marijuana, 55 kilograms of crystal methamphetamine, 331,809 ecstasy pills, almost a kilogram of cocaine, and 141.49 grams of heroin from the suspects at the time of their arrests.
“The total worth of the confiscated drugs reached Rp 309.6 million [US$32,817],” he said. Officers also confiscated two firearms and five bullets.
Nugroho said that most of the drugs seized in the raids had been produced abroad and smuggled into the nation by sea from Malaysia.
“The smugglers entered Indonesian soil through small ports in cities across Sumatra, including Banda Aceh, Medan and Dumai.”
Nugroho said that the police would still crack down on the drug trade in the city after the operation ended.
“I can promise you this: We will continue to work together with numerous law enforcement agencies, including the Soekarno-Hatta International Airport police and the Water Police units of numerous small ports across the nation, to take down each and every drug smuggling network out there,” he said.
