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Drug trafficking has surged in Indonesia, say authorities, who are cracking down on more smugglers, dealers and producers than ever before.

The scourge has seeped into all levels of society, including students and professionals, while foreign tourists are attempting to smuggle in crystal methamphetamine tablets, or crystal meth, known as shabu. Prison corrections officers have been caught running a brisk crystal meth trade, with the drug being produced in makeshift factories in housing estates in Jakarta and Batam.

The National Narcotics Agency (BNN) estimates that at least four million people, or 1.7 percent of Indonesians, are illegal drug abusers.

Data from the agency showed that its number of drug busts doubled from 14,105 four years ago to 28,801 last year, and 57 percent of last year's cases involved the manufacturing, trafficking and use of shabu and marijuana.

The rest of the cases involved party drugs like Ecstasy and other hard-core drugs like heroin and cocaine.

BNN's director of its natural narcotics office Benny Mamoto said: "We've seen more international syndicates trying to operate here in a big way."

News reports suggest that an increasing number of drug mules are smuggling in narcotics from African and Middle Eastern countries, as well as from Australia and Europe.

Drug syndicates have targeted the archipelago because of its porous borders and 17,000 islands - which make entering and leaving simpler than for other countries. It is also easy to secure raw materials through illegal imports, with some producers even getting their hands on locally produced pharmaceuticals and breaking them down into their constituent parts.

Drug prices in Indonesia are said to be among the highest in Asia. One gram of shabu is said to retail for between 1.5 million rupiah and two million rupiah (between S$218 and S$290), according to news reports.

Said criminologist Adrianus Meliala: "Indonesia has been stepping up the fight against narcotics in the supply-reduction front, while society did not balance such a fight with efforts to reduce. This, in turn, has pushed prices higher."

State news agency Antara estimated that the illicit drugs hauled in by the authorities were valued at 893 billion rupiah last year.

Recent drug busts that have shocked the nation have involved well-known individuals, celebrities and law enforcers.

Two weeks ago, former president Suharto's 20-year-old great-granddaughter Putri Aryanti Haryowibowo was caught smoking shabu in a Jakarta hotel room. She was with a mid-level police officer and another man, who had allegedly provided the drug. She is now in police detention, pending further investigation.

Early last month, narcotics officers from Jakarta discovered that the head of the high-security prison on Nusakambangan Island off central Java, Marwan Adli, and two of his officers had allowed the  shabu trade to thrive in return for a share of the profits. Police are investigating how the trade was carried out and how long it lasted. The trio are now in prison.

Indonesia mandates a death sentence for convicted drug traffickers. However, the penalties for production and usage are still relatively lenient.

BNN said that besides stepping up its raids, it is also launching a campaign to encourage people to help members of their family whom they suspect are drug abusers.

Said  Mamoto: "We can come over and pick up their loved ones, give them counseling, put them in rehabilitation, before they get arrested."

The campaign has been extended to schools, with teachers allowed to request for urine tests to be conducted on any student who is suspected of abusing drugs.

"We tell them, you will not be hated if you report your loved one or friend, because what you are doing is ensuring the person doesn't sink even deeper into addiction," Mamoto added.


Reprinted courtesy of Straits Times Indonesia. To subscribe to Straits Times Indonesia and/or the Jakarta Globe call 2553 5055.