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View all search resultsWomen’s growing role in drug trade sparks exploitation concerns
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Increasing trend: Several female suspects, along with a table of evidence, are presented on Monday during a press release on a drug trafficking network case at Customs Headquarters in Rawamangun, East Jakarta. (Antara/Fakhri Hermansyah)
T
he growing number of women involved in drug trafficking has raised alarms among rights groups, who warn that many are being exploited as couriers yet remain criminalized despite their vulnerable social and economic circumstances.
The National Narcotics Agency (BNN) reported that women accounted for around 10 percent of suspects in drug-related cases over the past three months. During that period, authorities arrested 285 suspects in 172 trafficking cases uncovered through joint surveillance with the Customs and Excise Office at major entry points, including ports, airports and interprovincial routes.
Seized evidence included 300 grams of methamphetamine, 370 grams of marijuana, 6,000 ecstasy pills and various other illicit substances.
“Of the total suspects, 29 were women, most of them housewives, who had been deceived by syndicates into working as couriers between islands and provinces,” BNN head Gen. Marthinus Hukom said at a press conference earlier this week.
He revealed that some women were found smuggling drugs concealed in their vaginal cavities, methods he said illustrate how syndicates “take advantage of women’s physical and feminine traits” to avoid detection.
Read also: American, Kazakhs in Bali face death penalty over drugs: Authorities
While the agency claimed that the women had voluntarily worked with traffickers in exchange for money, their involvement has stirred concern among rights advocates and officials.
