Aceh, Malaysia crack down on drug ring

Law enforcement agencies in Aceh will work together with their Malaysian counterparts to crackdown on a drug-smuggling syndicate based in Malaysia which traffics a vast quantity of narcotics through the province.

Aceh Police chief Insp. Gen. Aditya Warman said Aceh's police force was working together with Malaysia to tackle this growing problem, with a team to be sent to Malaysia to study drug-smuggling methods in the hope of curbing trafficking between Indonesia's western-most province and its nearest neighbor.

A meeting between the two law enforcement agencies is currently being planned.

"We have requested that the Malaysian government investigate how drugs from Malaysia seem to easily enter Aceh," said Aditya.

Adutya said based on confessions provided by a number of Malaysian drug couriers arrested in Aceh, the majority claimed they entered Aceh via plane. The province was targeted, he said, because it is well-known regionally that Aceh is a hotspot for drug activity.

Aceh is becoming a key place to manufacture crystal methamphetamine, he said, due to the number of raw materials for its production sold freely on the local market.

"The Malaysian government harshly punishes Acehenese drug traffickers caught in Malaysia, yet ironically drugs from that very country still easily enter Aceh," said Aditya.

Besides trying to smash international drug rings, police in Aceh are currently launching operations against marijuana traffickers in the region, who send vast quantities of the drug to locations in Indonesia such as Bali and Java.

"We have seized tons of marijuana. The suspects claim the marijuana was from Aceh," Aditya said.

Between July and August, police in Aceh seized nearly 90 tons of marijuana.