North Sumatra has seen dozens of alleged drug dealers shot dead in raids this year following the National Police’s tough stance against drug traffickers amid massive attempts by international drug networks to broaden their market in Indonesia.

However, even though many dealers have been shot to death by authorities, circulation of illicit drugs continue in the province, along with other regions.

Medan Police chief Sr. Comr. Sandi Nugroho said there had been 42 drug dealers shot dead in Medan in the last 10 months,

“This should have been a warning for drug distributors. But instead, drug circulation is getting more and more prominent in this region,” Sandi told The Jakarta Post.

North Sumatra is one of the gateways often used by international drug syndicates to smuggle their products into Indonesia.

The National Narcotics Agency (BNN) detected at least 72 international drug dealing networks actively supplying narcotics to the country, agency chief Comr. Gen. Budi Waseso said.

The networks regularly smuggled drugs through marine routes, using illegal ports in a number of regions as their means of entry.

“Aceh, North Sumatra, Riau Islands, West Kalimantan and East Kalimantan are the ports that these international syndicates use to smuggle drugs to Indonesia,” Budi said prior to the destruction of 191 kilograms of sabu-sabu (crystal methamphetamine), 43,450 ecstasy pills and 520 kg of marijuana at Merdeka Square in Medan on Thursday. The drugs were the results of seizures made in several raids conducted jointly by the BNN and the North Sumatra Police.

North Sumatra Governor Tengku Erry Nuradi, several regents in the province, military personnel, prosecutors, excise and customs officers, as well as religious and community figures also witnessed the destroying of the drugs.

Budi said of the many drug entrances, North Sumatra and Aceh were the most frequently used, as both regions were close to Singapore and Malaysia. “The biggest drug networks are in [Singapore and Malaysia], but we cannot touch the syndicates because of the laws in both countries,” he said.

Hundreds of tons of drugs are smuggled into Indonesia annually. In 2016, for example, an estimated 250 tons of sabu-sabu from China had been smuggled into Indonesia. Yet, only 3.4 tons could be seized by Indonesian authorities. The rest were freely circulated by the dealers to markets.

He argued that no single place in this country was completely free from drugs, saying that Indonesia had been eyed as a big market and a laboratory for drug creators worldwide.

As many as 6.4 million Indonesians were victims of the massive circulation of drugs, he said.

“The international drug syndicate network has set aside 10 percent of its budget for a drug-user regeneration operation to create a strong market in Indonesia,” said Budi, adding that the operation targeted kindergarten, elementary school and junior high school students as their future market.

Budi affirmed that to save the country’s next generation from drugs, the BNN, in synergy with the military and the police, had been taking harsh action against drug dealers and traffickers.

Despite outcry from activists against the shoot-to-kill policy, the BNN would not soften its stance.

“We have yet to have enough dealers shot to death. We will never stop. We are not afraid to shoot more dealers to death. We will prepare a cemetery for them,” he said.

Indonesia had been targeted as the main drug market by international drug rings in Southeast Asia following tougher antidrug policies imposed by neighboring countries like the Philippines, Malaysia and Singapore.

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