Jakarta – The chief of the National Narcotics Agency, or BNN, Comr. Gen. Budi Waseso said on Wednesday (23/08) in Jakarta that Malaysia is deliberately letting drug traffickers smuggle narcotics into Indonesia.
Budi said approximately 100 kilograms of crystal methamphetamine, locally known as sabu, come into Indonesia each month from Malaysia.
"There are two drug syndicates from Malaysia that are involved. I can say that Malaysia is making it easier for drug smugglers to send narcotics into our country," Budi said.
BNN seized 17.54 kilograms of sabu in Pontianak, West Kalimantan, on Aug. 6 and killed two suspects who resisted arrest.
According to officials from the Customs and Excise Office, the suspected drug traffickers shot in Pontianak are linked to another group that was raided with a ton of sabu in Serang, West Java, in July.
On Aug. 18, the agency also seized 40 kilograms of sabu on a ship in waters off Aceh. One of the suspected drug traffickers was a member of the Indonesian Military (TNI).
Budi said these recent incidents prove there is a Malaysian drug trafficking network that repeatedly smuggles narcotics into Indonesia.
According to him, the Malaysian suspects who were arrested in Pontianak, Luh aka Ape and CKH aka Ahoe also tried to bribe BNN officials with Rp 10 billion ($750,000) in cash.
Budi stressed he will not hesitate to punish BNN staff if they are caught getting involved with drug dealers.
"If necessary, we will shoot them on site, if we are sure that they are assisting the drug dealers. In 2016, we seized 3.5 tons of sabu, but this year the number has dramatically increased," he said, adding that he had begun investigating Malaysian drug traffickers when he was still chief of the National Police's Criminal Investigation Unit (Bareskrim) in 2015.
"Malaysia is deliberately letting their drug dealers to take advantage of our border areas. They do not distribute the drugs in large quantity at once, a ton can be split over several areas in Indonesia," Budi added.
Meanwhile, the director general of the Customs and Excise Office, Heru Pambudi, said the Malaysian drug dealers are targeting small ports to deliver their drugs into Indonesia.
"We are working with other agencies to monitor these ports closely and stop the drugs from coming into Indonesia," Heru said.
Source: http://jakartaglobe.id/news/malaysia-turns-blind-eye-smuggling-narcotics-indonesia-bnn-chief/