Bali Police Investigate 2 Narcotics Cases Controlled By Prison Prisoners

DENPASAR - Bali Police continue to search and develop two narcotics trafficking cases allegedly controlled by prisoners from within the Correctional Institution in the Bali area.

The Head of Public Relations of the Bali Police, Kombes Stefanus Satake Bayu Setianto, said that currently the Bali Police are working with other related parties to uncover drug trafficking, especially those involving prisoners who are still in iron bars.

"Regarding drug dealers in prisons, the Bali Police conducted an investigation with the help of other work units," Satake said as quoted by ANTARA, Friday, May 12.

There have been at least two cases of narcotics trafficking that have attracted public attention in Bali recently, because their circulation involved the inmates of the Correctional Institution, namely the first case of MW running a drug business while still languishing in the Class II A Penitentiary in Kerobokan, Badung, Bali in 2016-2022.

From the drug business which was finally revealed by the National Narcotics Agency of the Republic of Indonesia, MW has assets of Rp. 15 billion which was later confiscated by the Indonesian National Narcotics Agency.

The second case was revealed by the Narcotics Unit of the Jember Resort Police, East Java, who had arrested a dealer with the initials SS (43). In that case, based on the records of the Jember Police, SS admitted that he was only ordered by a dealer with the initials S, a drug recidivist who was still languishing in Bangli Prison.

In SS's confession, every month he receives a package of marijuana weighing 10-20 kilograms sent from Medan to be sent to Bali according to an order that includes S.

"We are still developing the case. For now there are no significant developments. If there are developments, it will be informed later how the results will be," said Satake.

Meanwhile, for drug trafficking involving former narcotics convicts of Class II A Kerobokan Prison, Badung, Bali, Satake was reluctant to comment much because the case was handled directly by the Indonesian National Narcotics Agency. However, with the circulation of these narcotics, his party also paid great attention considering the high number of drugs in Bali.

"The point is that we are trying to carry out an investigation. When it comes to drug dealers operating from the Kerobokan prison, the BNN will investigate because they are the ones who reveal it," said Satake.

According to Satake Bayu, from the data collected by the Bali Police's Narcotics Investigation Directorate, it was recorded from January to May 2023, narcotics crimes were ranked first with 258 cases. Of the 258 cases, 159 cases have been transferred to the Prosecutor's Office and the Court, while the rest are still in the filing process.

Hundreds of narcotics cases were spread across nine Polres/Polresta and Polsek ranks under the jurisdiction of the Bali Police.

Satake said the massive circulation of narcotics in Bali involved a wide and hidden network, so that it became a challenge for the Police to break the chain and reveal the main perpetrators of the illicit goods business.

"The difficulty is that drug trafficking has a network and this network is usually cut off, making it difficult to reveal a bigger one. However, we will not give up and continue to make efforts to uncover the case," said Satake Bayu.

Head of BNN Komjen Petrus Reinhard Golose during a press conference related to the money laundering crime (TPPU) case with assets of Rp. 15 billion carried out by a former narcotics convict at Kerobokan Class II A Prison, Badung, Bali revealed that the special narcotics methamphetamine circulating in Bali was dominated by narcotics from the Golden triangel network.

The Golden Triangle itself is a term for the sale of opium or narcotics networks operating in Myanmar, Thailand and Laos. The triple gold network drug is evidenced by laboratory research where there are similarities in chemical content and circulation routes.

Drug networks from Myanmar are widely circulated in Indonesia because in their place of origin, drug production is protected by mafia groups that have a special military.