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Drugs trade amounts to Rp 524 trillion per year
Drug dealers have immense financial power to buy off political leaders and law enforcement agencies to secure their illicit drug trafficking activities, warns BNN chief.
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Officials of the National Narcotics Agency's (BNN) regional office in Aceh check on urine sample gathered from civil servants of the West Aceh regency office of the Religious Affairs Ministry on May 14, 2024. (Antara/Syifa Yulinnas )
G
reater cooperation among stakeholders is required to eradicate the drugs trade in Indonesia as its value amounts to Rp 524 trillion (US$32.15 billion) per year, a senior narcotics officer said recently.
The figure was revealed by National Narcotics Agency (BNN) chief Comr. Gen. Marthinus Hukom during an event on the implementation of the Narcotics Prevention, Eradication, Abuse and Illicit Trade (P4GN) in Pangkalpinang, Bangka Belitung Islands, on Wednesday.
Marthinus said that Rp 534 trillion was a lot of money being spent on drugs while addicts were abandoning their familial responsibilities, such as buying food or paying tuition fees for their children.
“Drug addicts do not carry out their obligations but choose to buy drugs instead,” Marthinus said, as quoted by Antara news agency.
“This amount of money can buy everyone, they can buy me standing here, and what if I do not have a strong will to prevent and block such strong attacks?”
By comparison, the 2025 state budget was about Rp 3 quadrillion before being trimmed in an efficiency drive, which means money from illicit drugs trafficking is worth some one-sixth of the total state budget.
Marthinus said drug dealers used various ways to buy off law enforcement officers, including by sending money from their illegal business to officers’ relatives and parents back in their hometowns.
