Forgotten History: Money Laundering Originated from Drug Crimes
Jakarta, VIVA – There is an important historical fact that the public rarely recognises. Money laundering offences (TPPU), which have been widely reported in corruption cases, actually originated from the global war on drugs.
The Chairman of the Patriot Anti-Drug Association, Muannas Alaidid, emphasised that Indonesia has tended to misapply TPPU.
The mistake is simple: TPPU is rarely associated with narcotics crimes.
Muannas noted that many laypeople assume TPPU is synonymous with corruption.
This association, Muannas explained, arose due to extensive media coverage of money laundering in recent mega-corruption scandals.
However, Muannas clarified that historically, the international Anti-Money Laundering (AML) or TPPU framework originated from narcotics crimes.
Muannas stated that the AML concept emerged from the UN Convention Against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances 1988.
“Better known as the 1988 Vienna Convention,” said Muannas, as quoted in a written statement to journalists on Sunday, 26 April 2026.
This convention was the first to require countries worldwide to criminalise money laundering derived from illicit narcotics and psychotropic substances trafficking.
In its early days, the only predicate crime for TPPU was drugs.
Other crimes such as corruption, banking offences, or terrorism were incorporated into the TPPU regime years later through subsequent conventions.
“In other words, drugs are the ‘father’ of all TPPU worldwide,” he said.
This fact is not mere historical nostalgia. It is a legal foundation that remains applicable and binding on Indonesia as a participant in the convention.
Misapplication of TPPU Practices in Indonesia
Although Indonesia has Law No. 8 of 2010 on TPPU, which covers various predicate crimes, implementation in practice has focused more on corruption and economic crimes.
Media coverage and law enforcement of TPPU are almost always linked to major corruption scandals. Meanwhile, application to drugs remains minimal.
“So Indonesia has been somewhat mistaken if TPPU is rarely applied to narcotics and psychotropics,” Muannas remarked.
Based on records from the Narcotics Criminal Investigation Directorate, throughout 2024 to 2025, of the total TPPU cases handled by law enforcement agencies in Indonesia, less than 15 percent originated from drug cases.