The situation of Drugs Law Enforcement in Indonesia
This presentation will be featured at Indonesia 2025, on the 18.09.2025.
Author: Police Commissioner Grace Sopacua S.S., M.H.
Abstract:
Geographically, Indonesian archipelago is vulnerable to illicit drug trafficking as it is located at a very strategic location, that is the intersection of two oceans and two continents, lays on a trading route with a very high traffic of people and goods.
Indonesia consists of 17,508 islands by the coastal line as 85.000 km long and has a great of population which has reached 279 million of people. This is a huge market for illicit drugs trafficking business. As an archipelago country, Indonesia has a lot of access to be entered and, and most of these entry points are lack of control and sensitive for illicit drug trafficking as well as other crimes.
And There are several supporting factors highly favored by syndicates to smuggle drugs into Indonesia, such as good selling price in Indonesia, illicit drugs trafficking known as a lucrative business a business with easy money, it is easy to get a courier, big number of drugs user and unemployment problem.
An interesting MO is ship to ship method; The syndicate no longer needs to come directly to Indonesia; they simply need to cooperate with local syndicates to pick up drugs in the middle of the sea.
80 percent of drug smuggling into Indonesia are using sea route, the syndicate using ship to ship method, Methamphetamine is transferred from a mother vessel in high sea to a local syndicate fishing boat to be brought to the coast, then smuggled to major cities in Indonesia by land transportation.
For Methamphetamine, could be figured out two big syndicates which play their role in Methamphetamine illicit drug trafficking into Indonesia, they are Golden Triangle and Golden Crescent syndicate.
And for Ecstasy, mostly, Ecstasy circulated in Indonesia smuggled from abroad, the syndicate sent it from west European countries such as Belgium, Germany, and Netherland by air, and Malaysia. Their MO, concealed it into stuff such as machine, wedding dress etc.
