Ganja Courier to Priok Surrenders, Asks to Be Arrested When Police Board Bus
Police from the Indonesian National Police’s Criminal Investigation Agency (Bareskrim Polri) foiled an attempt to deliver a 20-kilogram package of cannabis from Sumatra to Kampung Bahari, Tanjung Priok, North Jakarta. The interception occurred on Saturday (25/7) at 14:56 WIB at Bakauheni Port, Lampung.
Brigadier General Eko Hadi Santoso, Director of Narcotics Crime at Bareskrim Polri, stated that the cannabis courier surrendered when officers boarded the bus, eventually confessing and asking to be arrested. The courier is a man with the initials GA, also known as Aboy, aged 28.
Aboy was arrested inside the bus by members of the Narcotics Crime Directorate and a joint team. He is suspected of acting as both the supplier and courier of the illicit goods. Eko explained that when police officers boarded the bus to conduct a search, Aboy, who was sitting at the very back, appeared frightened and immediately approached the officers to give himself up. “Sir, just arrest me,” Eko quoted Aboy as saying when he surrendered to the authorities. Aboy then pointed out the location of his black suitcase in the bus’s luggage compartment. The suitcase contained 20 packages of dried cannabis ready for distribution.
The suspect Aboy admitted to transporting the cannabis to be stored and distributed in Kampung Bahari, located in North Jakarta. “The joint team then secured the owner of the black suitcase suspected of containing narcotics of the cannabis type, which was planned to be taken to Bahari to be stored in a rented house and distributed in that area,” Eko revealed.
Aboy was arrested on Saturday (25/7) at 14:56 WIB. The arrest was made during a routine inspection of vehicles passing through the port entrance.
Investigations by the Narcotics Crime Directorate uncovered a ‘pay later’ payment method in the illicit cannabis trade between North Sumatra and Jakarta. Aboy obtained the cannabis supply without initial capital, instead using an instalment system after the goods were sold. Eko stated that Aboy admitted to having conducted transactions using this method several times with a supplier in Panyabungan, Mandailing Natal Regency, North Sumatra. “Aboy has carried out cannabis transactions in Panyabungan twice, each time for 20 kg, using a system where he takes the goods first and pays after they are sold to a person named Ikhsan at a price of Rp 5 million per kilogram,” said Eko.
Aboy confessed that the goods were obtained from someone named Ikhsan, also known as RD, in Panyabungan, North Sumatra. He had been involved in drug trafficking with Ikhsan three times. Before arriving at Bakauheni, Aboy was picked up by a man named Rio in Panyabungan and taken to a hut to rest while waiting for the package to be prepared. “Ikhsan alias RD, together with Rio, put 20 packages of dried cannabis into a black suitcase that had been prepared by Ikhsan. Meanwhile, Aboy just watched,” Eko stated.
Besides picking up Aboy, Rio is also the owner of a cannabis plantation. Meanwhile, Ikhsan alias RD acted as the plantation owner and the controller. Both have been placed on the wanted list and are being pursued by police. In addition to the 20 kg of cannabis, police seized a Redmi mobile phone as evidence. The 20 kg of cannabis is estimated to be worth Rp 80,360,000.