Same Crime, Different Methods: How Teddy Minahasa and Ex-Bima Police Chief's Drug Cases Differ
The drug cases that ensnared two high-ranking National Police officers, Inspector General Teddy Minahasa and former Bima City Police Chief Adjunct Senior Commissioner Didik Putra, both ended in dismissal from the police force. However, upon closer examination, the alleged criminal patterns of the two are fundamentally different.
Teddy Minahasa allegedly operated at the upstream stage of managing narcotics evidence. Meanwhile, Adjunct Senior Commissioner Didik Putra appeared to play a role downstream, namely receiving regular payments from a drug dealer network in exchange for security.
Teddy Minahasa’s case came to light in October 2022 following the development of a drug investigation by the Central Jakarta Metro Police. Initially, police arrested a suspect with the initials HE with 44 grams of crystal methamphetamine as evidence. The investigation expanded, leading to several active police officers. From the examination of several suspects, police uncovered the alleged involvement of a former Bukittinggi Police Chief with the rank of Adjunct Senior Commissioner, which then pointed to Inspector General Teddy Minahasa.
At that time, investigators found two kilograms of crystal methamphetamine at the former Bukittinggi Police Chief’s residence. Further examination led to allegations that there had been a misappropriation of crystal methamphetamine evidence from a narcotics case uncovered in West Sumatra. The National Police then named Teddy Minahasa a suspect on 14 October 2022. Based on the investigation, the main allegation in the case was the misappropriation of five kilograms of crystal methamphetamine evidence, which was then replaced with alum. In this scheme, the narcotics evidence that should have been secured was allegedly swapped with five kilograms of alum so the total weight would appear intact. Additionally, Teddy allegedly ordered the sale of two kilograms of the crystal methamphetamine and received proceeds of around Rp300 million.
Ironically, the case emerged not long after Teddy Minahasa received attention for his success in uncovering the distribution of 41.4 kilograms of narcotics in the Bukittinggi and Agam areas of West Sumatra. That seizure was even cited as one of the largest achievements in the West Sumatra Regional Police’s jurisdiction. Besides the drug case, Teddy was also previously known for his success in uncovering hundreds of online gambling cases in 2022.