T

he Bandung District Court in West Java sentenced on Monday a drug trafficker, who was caught in possession of 390 kilograms of marijuana, to life imprisonment.

The sentence handed down to Dede Sutisna, 32, was lighter than what was sought by prosecutors, who demanded that the death sentence be handed down to the defendant and two others, Zainuddin, 52, Syarifuddin, 40, in the
same case.

Presiding judge Pintauli said that Dede had violated Law No. 35/2009 on narcotics.

He also said Dede'€™s actions had caused damage to the nation and went against the government'€™s illegal drug fight.

'€œWe found him guilty beyond a reasonable doubt and sentenced him to life,'€ said Pintauli in a hearing on Monday.

Dede is known to have trafficked marijuana numerous times.

In another trial on the same day, judges sentenced Zainuddin and Syarifuddin to 20 years and 15 years, respectively, and fined them Rp 2 billion (about US$153,000) each.

All defendants accepted their sentences, but prosecutors said they would consider filing appeals.

Officers from the West Java National Narcotics Agency (BNN) and Bogor BNN arrested Zainuddin and Syrifuddin as they were transporting the contraband on a truck from Aceh.

The seizure took place on the Jagorawi toll road near Gunung Putri, Bogor, on July 14, 2014.

The BNN officers seized 200 kg of marijuana in the bust. Dede was arrested on July 16, 2014, at the Rajeg city housing complex in Tangerang regency, Banten, from where officers seized 390 kg of marijuana.

The lawyer for the three defendants, Arie Sukmadrajat, said that the lighter than demanded sentences were handed down because the panel of judges referred to the facts in court.

 '€œThey are victims of a drug syndicate. They did not own the marijuana,'€ said Arie.

Aceh, which enforces sharia, is notorious as source of marijuana in the country.

Last month, the North Sumatra Police and the Aceh Police agreed to set up a joint command station to curb marijuana trafficking from Aceh to other regions in the archipelago.

Marijuana from Aceh is generally smuggled out through East Aceh to North Sumatra and then to Jakarta. Drug traffickers transport marijuana overland from Aceh to Lampung, crossing the Sunda Strait to distribute it to other islands.

North Sumatra has also been used by drug lords as a gateway to send Acehnese marijuana to areas around Indonesia and Malaysia.

In one of the country'€™s largest marijuana busts, The North Sumatra Police foiled an attempt in January to transport 4.2 tons of marijuana from Aceh to Medan.

In October last year, police in Riau foiled an attempt to transport 8 tons of marijuana from Aceh to Jakarta.

'€” JP/Arya Dipa