Police in the Jakarta capital region of Indonesia intercepted a cargo truck carrying 1.5 tonnes of marijuana hidden in 120 sacks of staple foods at the exit of the Tangerang-Banten highway. The cargo truck was traveling from Aceh, located in northwestern Indonesia, to a warehouse in Bogor, south of Jakarta. Following the seizure of marijuana, authorities raided and dismantled the alleged operations center of an international drug ring in Cawang, East Jakarta. A police investigation found that members of the drug ring also actively operate in the port area in Jakarta and were previously involved with the smuggling of seven kilograms of methamphetamine from Malaysia. During the raid operation, police also seized additional 14,000 ecstasy pills and three kilograms of methamphetamine.
BSI previously recorded a trafficking group attempting to smuggle 1.7 tonnes of marijuana from Aceh to Jakarta’s port area, and onward to Taiwan. Notably, BSI has recorded a dramatic increase in the number of seizures of illicit drugs in Indonesia from cargo trucks and sea containers so far this year, including ecstasy pills, marijuana, methamphetamine, and cannabis. The incidents involved large volumes of illicit drugs being introduced into cargo trucks within the country, and also highlighted the strong possibility that international drug rings are exploiting port areas to facilitate illicit drug trade into and out of the country.