Police Handle 3 Cases Of Drug Syndicate Money Laundering

JAKARTA - The Directorate of Drug Crimes (Dittipidnarkoba) of the National Police-Criminal Investigation Unit is currently handling at least three cases of money laundering (TPPU) involving drug dealers.

"There are three cases that are 'on going'," said the Director of Drug Crimes at the National Police's Criminal Investigation Agency, Brigadier General Krisno H Siregar, quoted by Antara, Monday, November 1.

The three ML cases that are being handled, said Krisno, are ML at the TPA production or illicit trafficking of illegal hard drugs found in two crime scenes in the Yogyakarta area.

In this case, the Dittipidnarkoba Bareskrim Polri found two factories that produce strong drugs whose distribution has been banned by the Food and Drug Monitoring Agency (BPOM).

A total of 17 suspects were arrested in this case, including investors from two drug factories in Yogyakarta.

The second ML case handled by the National Police's Criminal Investigation Agency (DIP) was in the case of the disclosure of illicit drug trafficking at the Port of Bakahueni, Lampung.

The third is that the Narcotics Ditipid is currently investigating the ML case of a drug syndicate in Aceh.

"Currently we are investigating a money laundering case against an Acehnese syndicate drug dealer," said Krisno.

According to Krisno, the application of money laundering offenses against drug syndicate dealers is needed to provide a deterrent effect.

This provision was stated in the United Nations Convention in Geneva in 1988, which agreed on the application of money laundering offenses in drug cases.

"So countries in the world agree that money laundering is indeed the application of money laundering to impoverishment. For the Directorate of Drug Crimes at the National Police-Criminal Investigation Department, money is the 'blood' of organized crime syndicates," said Krisno.

Efforts to ensnare drug dealers with ML continues to be intensified, especially the findings of the Center for Financial Transaction Reports and Analysis (PPATK) found that there were jumbo funds worth Rp120 trillion from drug syndicate dealer transactions over a five-year period (2016-2020).