Jakarta – The Indonesian government has reaffirmed its strong commitment to eradicating narcotics to the roots.
In the government’s view, drug dealers are the main enemy who must be punished severely without any tolerance whatsoever.
This was conveyed by the Deputy Coordinating Minister for Law, Human Rights, Immigration and Corrections, Prof. Otto Hasibuan.
“Look, 51 percent of prison inmates are drug cases, both dealers and users,” explained Otto.
According to him, the main problem in this drug case lies with the dealers who are the source of the problem.
“If he is a dealer, there is no tolerance, he must be punished severely. In fact, some have been sentenced to death. We have no problem with that,” he said.
Otto also highlighted cases of drug users, especially those who are still young or novice users.
He expressed his concern about the future of the younger generation which is threatened with destruction due to drug abuse.
“We know that when they are young they go to prison, sometimes they come out even worse,” said Otto.
Therefore, he emphasized the importance of a more humane approach to drug users.
In his view, drug users, especially young ones, should be seen as sick people who need rehabilitation, not prison sentences.
“How can the illness be cured so that there is a thought that what if it can be rehabilitated, there is no need to imprison it, except for dealers,” he said.
Strong commitment is also seen in the Police’s efforts to arrest international drug dealers.
Recently, the Indonesian Police managed to arrest Roman Nazarenco, a Ukrainian citizen who was a drug dealer, in Bangkok, Thailand.
This arrest was the result of cooperation between the Indonesian National Police’s International Relations Division (Hubinter) and the Royal Thai Police.
“We received information from the Royal Thai Police. Immediately after that, we coordinated with NCB Bangkok and Jakarta to determine the next steps,” said Brigadier General Untung Widyatmoko, Secretary of NCB-Interpol Indonesia.
Thanks to solid collaboration, the National Police managed to bring the perpetrator to Indonesia in just a few days.
The arrest was called a major step in breaking up the international drug trafficking network.
This international collaboration also received appreciation from the Head of the Public Information Bureau of the Indonesian Police Public Relations Division, Brigadier General Trunoyudo Wisnu Andiko.
He emphasized that cross-country cooperation is real evidence of Indonesia’s commitment to combating transnational crime, including drugs.
“The National Police is committed to continuing to improve cooperation with Interpol and law enforcement institutions in other countries for global security,” he said.
This arrest is proof that Indonesia does not provide space for drug dealers to operate, either domestically or across borders.
