T

he National Narcotics Agency (BNN) has revealed that the province of North Sumatra is the main transit place for the distribution of narcotics from abroad to regions across the country.

North Sumatra BNN head Brig. Gen. Andi Loedianto said most of the drugs distributed in Indonesia currently passed through the province. The supply came from Malaysia via Aceh before being transported to Medan, the capital of North Sumatra.

“It is from Medan that the drugs are distributed throughout Indonesia. That is why we call North Sumatra the biggest transit place for drugs in the country at present,” Andi told reporters on Friday.

He said the syndicates controlling the drug distribution in North Sumatra were applying the so-called disconnected method. As such, the people on the distribution network, ranging from kingpins, skippers and couriers to users, did not know one another. This, he said, made it difficult for the BNN to arrest drug kingpins in the province.

“It takes time to arrest the drug kingpins due to the disconnected method,” Andi said.

Providing an example, Andi explained that it took police two months to identify a drug kingpin from Aceh before he was eventually shot dead in Medan four days ago.

BNN’s eradication division deputy head, Insp. Gen. Arman Depari, said Jumari, the alleged kingpin, had been shot dead because he had tried to fight the officers sent to arrest him on Jl. TB Simatupang on Tuesday night. He was reportedly carrying 38 kilograms of crystal methamphetamine, 100,000 ecstasy pills and 50,000 happy five pills.

“He tried to run away. The officers tried to stop him by releasing two shots. He fell down,” Arman told reporters at the crime scene on Jl. TB Simatupang on Wednesday.

He said the arrest operation had been the result of BNN investigations into numerous cases in Medan.

He also said the drugs that the syndicate was carrying had come from Malaysia. They had entered Indonesia through Aceh and were to be further taken to Medan, Jakarta and Riau Islands. From Jakarta, they would be distributed to big cities in Java.

Arman said BNN officers had stalked the vehicle carrying the suspects while it was moving from Aceh Tamiang to Medan. They stopped the car on Jl. TB Simatupang in Sunggal subdistrict to check.

“When the officers searched the vehicle, they found drugs in it,” he said.

He added that the suspects would be charged under Articles 112, 114 and 123 of Law No. 35/2009 on narcotics. “The articles carry the death penalty,” he said.

Suspect Abdul Manan told police it was his first involvement in drug distribution. He said he had been asked to accompany Jum to transport the contraband to Medan. “I just accompanied him. It was my first,” he said.

In early October, security officers at Kualanamu International Airport in Deli Serdang regency, North Sumatra, thwarted an attempt to smuggle into the country 2 kg of crystal methamphetamine, locally known as shabu-shabu.

The officers arrested the suspect, identified as Hamdani, 20, a resident of Bireun, Aceh, after they found the drugs in his luggage during an x-ray check at the airport’s security check point last Monday.

The suspect was set to depart for Jakarta on Lion Air flight JT-303.

“We have handed the 2 kg of crystal methamphetamine and money we confiscated over to the police,” said Kualanamu International Airport security department chief Kuswadi.