South Jakarta Residents Arrested By Police For Planting 9 Cannabis Trees In Pots At Their Homes

Tangerang Police Chief Kombes Sigit Dany Setiyono when showing evidence and marijuana planting perpetrators in Tangerang. (ANTARA)

TANGERANG - The Tangerang City Police Narcotics Investigation Unit (Polresta) team, Banten managed to arrest a marijuana planter at his residence in Sindang Jaya, Tangerang Regency. Tangerang Police Chief Kombes Sigit Dany Setiyono said the perpetrator with the initials RA, a resident of South Jakarta, was arrested yesterday at around 16.00 WIB with evidence in the form of nine live cannabis trees planted in pots. "We managed to secure the perpetrator along with evidence, namely nine pots of cannabis plants on May 4, 2023 in the Sindang Jaya area," he said during a press conference in Tangerang, Antara, Friday, May 12. In the disclosure of the marijuana planting case, it started with public information on April 28, 2023 regarding activities suspected of being a place for growing marijuana. Then, he continued, the investigating team from the Tangerang Police immediately conducted observations and monitoring of allegations of illegal activities. So that in the end, his party managed to reveal it. "After successfully revealing and arresting the perpetrators, the team immediately carried out an interrogation as a further investigation," he said. To investigators, the perpetrator admitted that the marijuana planted in his house was the result of nursery from Thailand with the form of seeds as many as 13 seeds. "So during a visit to Thailand on January 3, the perpetrator initially bought 8 cannabis seeds for Rp. 1,500 at a shop in the country. Then, he bought 5 more seeds for Rp. 800 thousand from the same shop," he said. Furthermore, after receiving the cannabis seeds, the perpetrator took them back to Indonesia on January 7 through Soekarno-Hatta International Airport hidden in a tissue package. "After successfully escaping to bring cannabis seeds from Thailand to his house, the perpetrator then planted them in a jar and managed to grow into shoots," he said. He revealed that the perpetrator's motive for growing marijuana was only used for personal gain, not to be carried out by distribution or sold in general. "As a result of the team's deepening, this activity is only used for personal use," he said. As for the perpetrator's actions, his party suspects Article 111 paragraph (2) of Law number 35 of 2009 concerning narcotics with the threat of life imprisonment or a minimum imprisonment of five years and a maximum of 20 years in prison and a fine of at least Rp. 1 billion to Rp. 10 billion.

"Our perpetrators have carried out security and detention as a further examination process," he said.