Drug linked to money laundering

JAKARTA: The Indonesian Financial Transaction Report and Analysis Center (PPATK) head Yunus Husein called on the police Tuesday to charge drug dealers under anti-money laundering laws.

"Money from drugs trafficking is categorized as money laundering and Indonesia is among the countries whose financial system is misused to accommodate such a crime," Yunus told a seminar on international cooperation in combating drug abuse.

Yunus said Law No. 15/2002 on anti-money laundering allowed law enforcers to ask alleged drugs traders to prove that their assets were not the results of drug trafficking.

The law also allows law enforcers to ask banks to disclose accounts belonging to alleged drug dealers.

He said utilizing the law would provide more advantages than Law No. 5/1997 on psychotropic drugs.

Yunus said although several articles in the anti-money laundering law would be amended, some of the articles would remain in place to enable police to charge alleged drug dealers under the law. --JP