PPATK Said About The Finding Of A Jumbo Account Of Rp. 120 Trillion Drug Dealers

JAKARTA - The finding of an account of Rp120 trillion belonging to a drug syndicate shows that efforts to eradicate the circulation of prohibited goods must be followed by impoverishing the dealers.

If the eradication of drugs is only limited to punishing the perpetrators and not targeting money belonging to the dealer, the drug industry will continue to grow.

"Efforts to pursue drug criminals must be accompanied by chasing the money of drug criminals," said Head of the Financial Transaction Reports and Analysis Center (PPATK) Dian Ediana Rae as quoted by Antara, Wednesday, October 6.

"For example, if the criminal is only put in prison, but the money is still there, even controlled, it is very possible that this (city) will still have an effect," he said.

Therefore, the Head of PPATK invites all parties, including his institutions, law enforcement officers, courts, including the Ministry of Law and Human Rights in charge of correctional institutions, to work together to eradicate drugs to the end.

Dian Ediana Rae explained that the drug business often uses various methods to hide its money from the monitoring of the relevant authorities. Money laundering practices carried out by drug syndicates are also dynamic or continue to change and develop over time, said Dian.

“For example, they use the accounts of people who are not involved in drugs. They only give money and then they use it," he said.

In addition, drug syndicates also often launder money by trading mode, for example through the use of fake invoices.

"This is sophisticated, including using a money changer," continued Dian Ediana Rae.

In order to anticipate various suspicious transactions, PPATK uses various methods, including collaborating with other countries to exchange data.

As a result, if there is a suspicious transaction, for example there is an unbalanced transfer of funds, the supervisory authority will immediately give a sign and notify the authorities of the other country to which the transfer is intended.

PPATK's findings related to accounts of Rp120 trillion belonging to drug syndicates became public attention, following a hearing (RDP) between the Head of PPATK and Commission III of the DPR RI last month.

"I am grateful that the issue was asked. We have sent the information to the relevant institutions to give more serious attention to the handling of drug-related crimes,” said the Head of PPATK.