Indonesia arrests 285 in drug crackdown and seizes over half a ton of
narcotics
[June 24, 2025]
By NINIEK KARMINI and ANDI JATMIKO
JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — Indonesian authorities said Monday they
arrested 285 people suspected of drug trafficking, including 29 women
and seven foreigners, and seized over half a ton of narcotics during a
two-month crackdown.
Indonesia is a major hub for drug trafficking in Southeast Asia despite
having strict drug laws, with convicted smugglers sometimes executed by
firing squad.
The head of the National Narcotic Agency, Marthinus Hukom, said the
crackdown, launched between April and June across 20 provinces, also
uncovered money laundering schemes by two drug syndicates and
confiscated assets worth more than 26 billion rupiah (about $1.5
million).
Thirty-six of the suspects, including 21 women, were paraded in front of
reporters, along with confiscated drugs, in their orange prison uniforms
and hands handcuffed.
Hukom said the women arrested were mostly married without jobs outside
the home.
“I call on Indonesian women to be more vigilant in establishing
friendships both in the real world and in cyberspace,” he said during a
joint press conference with officials from the security affairs ministry
and the customs office who took part in the operation.
One of the agency’s deputies, Budi Wibowo, said authorities seized
683,885 grams (0.68 ton) of crystal meth, marijuana, ecstasy, THC,
hashish and amphetamines, adding this helped stop them falling into the
hands of “more than 1.3 million people.”
Wibowo also said that drug syndicates have used various methods to
distribute narcotics to users via land and sea transportation or mail
services.
The seven foreign nationals were an American, two Kazakhs, two
Malaysians, an Indian and an Australian, Wibowo said.
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Indonesian police officers stand guard near various drugs seized in
a nationwide crackdown in the past few months, before the start of a
press conference at the Indonesian Customs headquarters in Jakarta,
Indonesia, Monday, June 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Achmad Ibrahim)
The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime says Indonesia is a
major drug-smuggling hub in part because international drug
syndicates target its young population.
In a separate operation, authorities in the province of Riau Island,
exposed in May two cases of drug smuggling in its waters and seized
2.7 tons of crystal methamphetamine and 1.2 tons of ketamine, Hukom
said Monday.
In 2023, authorities uncovered more than 52,000 of drug cases and
confiscated 6.2 tons of crystal meth, 1.1 tons of marijuana and
other types of synthetic narcotics, said Mochammad Hasan of the
ministry of security affairs during the press conference.
Hasan said the number increased in 2024 with more than 56,000 cases
and confiscated 7.5 tons of crystal meth and 3.3 tons of marijuana,
with a combine value worth 7.5 trillion rupiah ($454.6 million).
Authorities have arrested a total of 27,357 drug suspects by
November 2024, he said.
Early this month, three British nationals accused of smuggling
nearly a kilogram (over 2 pounds) of cocaine into Indonesia were
charged in a court on the tourist island of Bali. They face the
death penalty under the country’s strict drug laws.
About 530 people, including 96 foreigners, are on death row in
Indonesia, mostly for drug-related crimes, the Ministry of
Immigration and Corrections’ data showed. Indonesia’s last
executions, of an Indonesian and three foreigners, were carried out
in July 2016.
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