Prison Overcapacity Drops to 85%, 140 Drug Smuggling Attempts Foiled
The condition of prisons (lapas) and detention centres (rutan) in Indonesia has improved in terms of overcapacity. Currently, overcapacity in prisons has dropped to 85 per cent.
In June 2025, the overcapacity rate reached nearly 100 per cent. By August 2025, it was successfully reduced to 93 per cent.
Based on data from the Ministry of Law and Human Rights (Kemenkumham) during an audience with the National Narcotics Agency (BNN) on Thursday (9/4/2026), the total number of inmates in prisons and detention centres in Indonesia is 271,468 people, consisting of 215,156 convicts and 56,312 detainees. Ideally, the capacity for inmates in prisons and detention centres is 146,860 people.
Kemenkumham stated that half of the total number of inmates in prisons and detention centres have backgrounds in drug cases, namely 146,282 people or 53.9 per cent. The highest distribution of inmates in prisons and detention centres with drug case backgrounds is as follows:
North Sumatra: 20,146 people
East Java: 13,345 people
West Java: 12,165 people
Riau: 9,969 people
East Kalimantan: 8,467 people
South Sumatra: 8,374 people
Central Java: 7,871 people.
Steps to Reduce Overcapacity
Kemenkumham has taken several strategic steps to reduce the overcapacity rate, lower the potential for new drug networks or other crimes, strengthen segregation of high-risk inmates, and break the chain of drug circulation in prisons.
The major initiative undertaken by the ministry under the leadership of Minister of Law and Human Rights Agus Andrianto is to transfer convicts or prison inmates to the Technical Implementation Units (UPT) of the Directorate General of Corrections (Ditjenpas) on Nusakambangan Island, Cilacap, Central Java. Those sent to the ‘prison island’ are those classified as high-risk based on assessment results.
Since taking office in November 2024, Minister Agus has ordered Ditjenpas to profile and assess the convicts, and as of 27 March 2026, the number of high-risk convicts transferred to Nusakambangan Island totals 2,284 people. Nearly 80 per cent of the high-risk inmates relocated are those involved in drug cases.
In addition to relocating high-risk inmates, Minister Agus Andrianto has directed Ditjenpas to implement the One Stop Service Rehabilitation approach in 2025, in collaboration with local BNN and relevant professional organisations. The reason is to ensure that the medical and social rehabilitation needs of prison inmates can be served in a single, holistic process.
Currently, 531 Ditjenpas UPTs, including detention centres, prisons, and special child mentoring institutions (LPKA) across 33 regional offices in Indonesia, have implemented the One Stop Service Rehabilitation concept. This programme has reached 36,806 people.
Those rehabilitated were previously screened based on addiction factors and needs assessment. This programme is not only remedial but also preventive. Therefore, participants are not limited to convicts or detainees in narcotics cases only.
The fruit of the One Stop Service Rehabilitation programme is the certification of seven Drug Prisons with SNI standards for rehabilitation services, namely: Class IIA Jakarta Drug Prison, Class IIA Cirebon Drug Prison, Class III Sawahlunto Drug Prison, Class IIB Muara Sabak Drug Prison, Class IIA Tanjung Pinang Drug Prison, Class IIA Samarinda Drug Prison, and Class IIA Bangli Drug Prison.
Hundreds of Drug Smuggling Attempts Foiled
Kemenkumham conducted data collection across all Ditjenpas UPTs for the period from January to December 2025. It recorded 140 incidents of drug smuggling attempts into prisons and detention centres in 24 regional offices and 99 UPTs that were successfully foiled by 272 officers.
The results of these discoveries were handed over by Ditjenpas UPT Kemenkumham to the police as a form of transparency, including the transfer of convicts to the supermaximum security prison on Nusakambangan as a commitment and firmness in eradicating dark drug circulation within prisons.
Not denying the involvement of rogue elements, Kemenkumham stated that during the period from 1 January 2025 to 9 April 2026, there were 27 prison staff members subjected to administrative sanctions, with more than 50 per cent receiving heavy penalties and referred for criminal processing by the police. These 27 rogue staff members were proven to be directly involved in drug circulation, assisting in bringing drugs into prisons or detention centres; abusing authority, negligent in supervision, and using drugs.