Riau Police Chief Meets Malaysian Police, Discusses Narcotics to Transnational Terrorism 

Riau Police Chief Herry Heryawan made a working visit to Malaysia/DOK IST

JAKARTA - Riau Police Chief Herry Heryawan made a working visit to Malaysia to strengthen cooperation in handling cross-border crimes, ranging from narcotics, terrorism, to human smuggling.

The visit took place on April 6-8, 2026 and was filled with meetings with a number of units in the Royal Malaysian Police, such as the Narcotics Criminal Investigation Department (JSJN), Special Branch E3, to the counter terrorism unit E8.

During the meeting with JSJN, both parties discussed strengthening collaboration in handling narcotics, including exchanging intelligence and analyzing cross-country phone numbers. This issue is a concern because the route for the circulation of narcotics to the Riau region comes from abroad.

"We are here to strengthen concrete collaboration, especially in dealing with cross-border narcotics. We want to build a system of cooperation that is faster, more precise, and real time between Indonesia and Malaysia," said Herry, Thursday, April 9.

In addition, the discussion also includes the possibility of applying hot pursuit or cross-border pursuit of perpetrators of crimes who flee between countries.

The meeting continued with Special Branch E3 which raised other strategic issues, such as terrorism and people smuggling. Illegal routes in the waters of Dumai are one of the vulnerable points highlighted together.

"We need information support from the Malaysian side because the nature of this crime is cross-border. Without strong cooperation, the handling will not be optimal," said Herry.

Environmental issues were also included in the agenda for discussion, especially forest and land fires (karhutla) which have the potential to have cross-border impacts. The Riau Police are said to have taken preventive measures through the fire-free village program and law enforcement against arsonists.

Herry also encouraged joint aerial patrols with the Malaysian side to monitor the condition of the region and anticipate the haze.

In the terrorism prevention sector, Herry met with the E8 unit of Malaysia. Both parties discussed new trends in radicalization targeting young people, including through social media and online games.

"Radicalization is currently developing with a new pattern that targets the younger generation. Therefore, intelligence cooperation is very important to prevent it early on," he said.

The series of visits ended with a meeting with the Head of the Melaka Police who emphasized the importance of strengthening regional security cooperation, both in handling cross-border crimes and environmental issues. Herry assessed that the historical closeness between Riau and Melaka could be a capital in strengthening collaboration.

"We are one Malay race. Silaturahmi is not just a meeting, but a way to unite the goal of maintaining security and public order in their respective regions," he added.