Man arrested with 60 kgs of marijuana
Man arrested with 60 kgs of marijuana
JAKARTA (JP): Police arrested a man in Depok, West Java,
Saturday for allegedly possessing and trafficking about 60
kilograms of first-grade dried marijuana from Aceh worth about Rp
144 million (US$41,142).
Chief of Jakarta City Police Detectives' Narcotics Affairs
unit, Lt. Col. H. Abdullah, said Saturday that the arrest of the
suspect, identified as Muslim, alias Sumardi, 29, constituted the
largest marijuana haul in the last three years.
The last major marijuana haul was in July when 30 kilograms
were confiscated by police from three arrested drug dealers.
Muslim was arrested at his rented house on Jl. Tanah Baru Raya
in Depok early Saturday morning by an undercover detective.
"The suspect would sell the marijuana for about Rp 2.4 million
per kilogram," Abdullah said.
The suspect regularly moved address to conceal his activities,
he said.
Abdullah said the marijuana from a cannabis plantation in Aceh
Besar was apparently brought to Jakarta by a courier earlier this
month. The courier is still at large.
"Muslim admitted during the police interrogation that he
ordered the marijuana from a person in Aceh," he said. Police
have identified Muslim's source in Aceh, he added.
"People who are involved in drugs, especially heroin and
marijuana, always collaborate with people they really trust," he
said.
"People in such a syndicate often don't know each other. That
makes it difficult for us to trace the suspects," he said.
Muslim had been involved in drug trafficking for some time,
Abdullah said. "He used to sell an average of three to five
kilograms, so the 60 kilograms was possibly his big bite."
He said that Muslim had previously agreed to provide up to 100
kilograms but reduced the deal to 60 kilograms.
The police are now trying to locate the remaining 40
kilograms.
Aceh
Abdullah said the courier brought the marijuana to Jakarta in
small packages.
"The courier traveled here by bus. The arrested courier said
he picked up the packages from a courier at a bus station in
Tangerang and took them to his house in Depok," he said.
He said past raids had also confiscated marijuana from Aceh,
an area notorious for its huge illegal cannabis plantations.
"Aceh's role as one of the major suppliers of marijuana in the
country persists until now," he said.
Police have been trying to eradicate the plantations which are
usually found in forests, making it difficult to locate them.
In April, police discovered a huge cannabis plantation on the
slopes of steep forested hills in Banda Aceh.
Police also uncovered more than 17,000 cannabis plants, seized
more than 64,000 kilograms of wet marijuana and arrested 13
people, believed to be members of a marijuana syndicate which
owned the plantation.
Police said the syndicate employed poor farmers to help tend
the plantation and transport the marijuana. The farmers were
often poorly paid while the syndicate reaped big profits.
In September, police discovered three marijuana plantations in
the Glee Meulinggee village of North Brueh Island in Aceh Besar
regency.
About 5,700 six-month-old cannabis plants were uprooted and
kept as evidence and thousands of others were destroyed.
Abdullah said his office would try to quickly complete the
investigation on Muslim and send the case to the prosecutor.
According to the 1997 Narcotics Law Number 22, people who are
found guilty of possessing marijuana face a maximum penalty of
seven years in jail and a Rp 250 million fine.
Those found guilty of trafficking marijuana face a maximum
penalty of 20 years in jail and a Rp 1 billion fine. (cst)