National Narcotics Agency (BNN) chief Comr
Indonesia has not only become the biggest market for narcotics in Asia with 5.9 million users but has become a narcotics-producing country, says National Narcotics Agency (BNN) chief Comr. Gen. Budi Waseso.
'As of June 2015, the number of narcotics users reached 4.2 million people, and that number grew to 5.9 million by November," Budi said in Medan, as quoted by kompas.com on Wednesday.
Budi further said that around 60 percent of prisoners held in the country's prisons had been convicted on drug-related charges. With 70 percent of its 2,700 prisoners having been convicted on drug-related charges, Tanjung Gusta Penitentiary in Medan, North Sumatra houses the highest number of drug convicts out of all prisons in the country. In its effort to eradicate drugs, BNN will cooperate with the Indonesian Military (TNI) to conduct raids and put an end to the circulation of narcotics.
"It's a big issue that needs to be overcome,' he said.
Bukit Barisan Regional Military Command I (Kodam) chief of staff Brig.Gen. Widagdo Hendro Sukoco acknowledged that Indonesia had become a potential market for drugs dealers in Southeast Asia.(ags)(+)
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