Nurdin Hasan, Banda Aceh – About a thousand police officers, out of 13,000, in Aceh were identified as drug users, Aceh police chief Ins. Gen. Iskandar Hasan said on Tuesday.

Iskandar said the number of police officers who were found to be drug users was between 850 and 1,000. One hundred and eighty nine of the officers were sent to a month-long training and guidance session for drug users at the Aceh Police station.

"We'll see whether they will change or not in a month using the indicators we have set up," Iskandar said. "If they cannot be changed, we're going to fire them."

The National Narcotics Agency conducted hair tests to determine if the officers were using drugs. A former subdistrict police chief was among those who tested positive. Iskandar said drug dealers want police officers to become drug users.

"It's their strategy to get to the legal enforcers, such as police, military and prosecutors," he said. "It is a strategy to secure their networks. If all the legal enforcers are silent, who will arrest them?"

Regardless of training and guidance, the police who were found to be drug users will be punished. Part of their salaries will be stopped, they will not be promoted or allowed to continue their studies.

Iskandar had previously said that Aceh was known as an international distribution point for crystal methamphetamine, with drugs coming from Malaysia and being distributed to other regions of Indonesia. Aceh is also known for its high quality of marijuana.