T

he Medan District Court sentenced on Tuesday former policeman Tri Sudarmoko, alias Moko, to life imprisonment for drug dealing at Tanjung Gusta Penitentiary in Medan, North Sumatra.

The sentence was lighter than the death sentence sought by prosecutors.

Presiding judge Waspin Simbolon said when reading out the verdict that the former North Sumatra Water and Air Police officer had been proven guilty of violating Article 114 of the 2009 Narcotics Law.

Waspin added that the panel of judges did not hand down a death sentence because of current discourse on capital punishment. He pointed out that the sentence handed to Moko was not for punishment but for correction. He added that Moko had been able to sell drugs within the prison walls as a result of weak supervision at Tanjung Gusta Penitentiary.

'€œThe defendant is proven guilty of peddling 2.1 kilograms of crystal meth and 11,400 ecstasy pills inside the prison, so he is sentenced to life,'€ said Waspin.

Moko ran the drug business inside Tanjung Gusta Penitentiary. His activities were uncovered after National Narcotics Agency (BNN) officers arrested suspects Ardieyatun, alias Dede, and Kamaluddin, alias Nanang, at Ardieyatun'€™s house in the Grand Puri Meralan residential complex in Medan with evidence in the form of 2.1 kg of crystal meth and 11,400 ecstasy pills in November 2013. The two men have since been sentenced to 16 years in prison each.

Moko has been detained at Tanjung Gusta Penitentiary since 2009. He was sentenced to six years for trafficking 4.4 kg of crystal meth from Malaysia.

During his term at Tanjung Gusta, he was involved in money laundering from the proceeds of selling drugs with Anlie Jusuf'€™s drug ring. He was sentenced to an additional eight years for the offense in 2011.

Two years later, he was caught again by BNN officers at Tanjung Gusta for drug dealing.

In response to the ruling, Moko immediately filed an appeal after consulting with his lawyer, while prosecutors said they were also considering filing an appeal.

In Banda Aceh, police on Monday raided a house where it was believed crystal meth was produced and run by a convicted drug dealer named Sofyan. It is suspected that Sofyan was able to produce drugs from outside prison after bribing prison guards to allow him to leave the prison.

The police also seized 100 grams of crystal meth and several pieces of equipment and chemicals to produce the narcotics.

'€œDuring the raid, we seized evidence in the form of crystal meth and drug-producing equipment,'€ said Banda Aceh City Police chief Sr. Comr. Zulkifli.

According to Zulkifli, Sofyan had been sentenced to 18 years at Cipinang Penitentiary in Jakarta for a drug-related case and then transferred to the Banda Aceh penitentiary on April 21, 2013.

'€œThe convict obtained the raw materials from Jakarta. He received capital of more than Rp 50 million (US$ 3.950) from a cousin who is currently doing time at Nusakambangan prison in West Java,'€ said Zulkifli.

Sofyan produced crystal meth a number of times that had a total value of Rp 75 million. He sent the contraband to Lampung.

To conduct his business, he was often able to leave the prison after reportedly bribing a prison guard named Darmansyah.