This is Part 2 of a two-part story on Kampung Beting.

Read also: Beting village: Haven for drug users, hell for non-users

Maze with a purpose

The only land access to the floating settlement of Kampung Beting is over gertak, footbridges made out of ironwood suspended above its many waterways. Adding to the challenging accessibility are the mazelike, crisscrossing narrow alleys of Beting village, truncated only by the Kapuas River. All houses connect through concealed doorways.

According to Arief Nugroho, a Pontianak Post journalist who reported on a police raid in 2012, this interconnected architecture and winding geographical layout contribute the single greatest hurdle to unraveling the tangled threads of the local narcotics ecosystem. The village layout makes it easy for dealers to escape and hide, even get rid of evidence, in matters of seconds during a police raid.

Before he switched to steering canoes, Randy (not his real name) worked as a “messenger” for dealers. His wages depended on each dealer’s "generosity", he says, and usually ranged from Rp 50,000 to 100,000 a day.

Randy and other messengers kept watch at the village entrance, reporting to the dealers whenever someone unknown or suspicious arrived, including policemen. If this happened, Randy would repeatedly strike an electricity pole as hard as he could. The sound was an alarm for residents to gather and get ready to defend themselves.

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