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n the past three months, drug-related crimes have been the most reported crimes in Greater Jakarta with the Jakarta Police recording approximately 1,000 drug-related cases from a total of 2,210 criminal cases.

In order to clamp down on drug trafficking, the Jakarta Police have been seeking new ways to effectively fight drug distribution and abuse.

The West Jakarta Police and the South Jakarta Police are among the first to use online methods to crack down on drug trafficking.

The West Jakarta Police have been actively tracking drug transactions online. West Jakarta is the area with the most reported drug-related crimes in the city.

In the first three months this year, the West Jakarta Police handled 214 cases from the 1,000 drug-related cases recorded in Jakarta.

“At first, we developed our investigations based on tip-offs from residents who witnessed alleged drug transactions on the web,” West Jakarta Police drug unit chief Comr. Suhermanto said.

Suhermanto said detectives later followed up on the tip-offs by trawling through social media and internet forums.

“We never tried to crack down on drug trafficking by using the internet until recently. It turns out we uncovered quite a number of cases through online surveillance,” he said.

The new method of uncovering drug transactions has contributed to the large number of cases handled by West Jakarta Police, he said.

“Last January, we managed to cooperate with the Asahan Police in North Sumatera to arrest drug dealers carrying seven kilograms of crystal meth,” Suhermanto said.

Jakarta has seen a rising trend in drug-related crimes with 5,333 drug-related cases from a total of 28,252 criminal cases handled by the police last year.

From January to February this year, the Jakarta Police have destroyed a considerable quantity of drugs, comprising 117 kg of methamphetamine, 9.77 kg of synthetic cannabinoids, 228,978 ecstasy pills and 22,360 nimetazepam “happy five” pills. These drugs were seized during a series of arrests.

Meanwhile, the South Jakarta Police have been cooperating with public monitoring app Qlue to encourage citizens to report alleged drug transactions and abuse.

The cooperation began late last year and has resulted in more than 30 drug-related arrests based on tip-offs sent in by the app’s users.

“We encourage South Jakarta residents to participate more fully in drug eradication efforts. We’ve seen an increasing number of reports made by residents brave enough to report alleged drug trafficking and abuse in their neighborhoods,” said South Jakarta Police drug unit chief Comr. Vivick Tjangkung.

One of the big cases the police have handled based on reports from residents was the arrest of several youngsters in Cipete, South Jakarta, who were carrying 1 kg of marijuana and 100 grams of crystal methamphetamine, said Vivick.

“We realize that drug distribution and abuse in this city is rising at an alarming rate, so we must find new ways to stop it,” she said.

The possibility of anonymity makes Qlue a good option for Jakartans who wish to report drug-related crimes, said Qlue spokesperson Stephanie Edelweiss.

“Residents are not required to give personal details in their report. We don’t pay much attention to their identities as long as we can confirm what they report,” said Stephanie. (dea)