The diazepam tablets were on their way to be sold by local drug dealers to students and teenagers in Trenggalek city.
The anti-drug squad members of the Trenggalek police also arrested three suspects, only identified by their initials DH (35), SN (38), and SLH (55), Trenggalek Police Chief Adjunct Sen. Coms. Jean Calvijn Simanjuntak said here Wednesday.
The suspects were nabbed along with the evidence in separate places around Trenggalek city in a series of raids that the anti-drug squad members conducted over the past days.
"We are now focusing on crushing the network of drug trafficking activities that target students and youngsters," he said, adding that DH and SN were just small-time drug dealers while SLH was a big one because the police seized 14,504 Double LL tables from him.
SLH had packed the Double LL tablets in 15 transparent plastic bags. The investigators also confiscated 691 GMP or Dextro tablets from his possession and 0.77 grams of crystal methamphetamine, he said.
The three suspects confessed to investigators that they were supplied the drugs by a big dealer in Tulungagung District, East Java, Simanjuntak said.
Indonesia remains under grave threat from drug dealers, as several individuals from its working-age population have been engulfed in a vicious circle of drugs.
The National Narcotics Agency's (BNN's) report of some 50 Indonesians dying daily of drug use has failed to deter drug users in the country from consuming these banned substances.
Users of crystal methamphetamine, narcotics, marijuana, and other addictive drugs transcend communities and socio-economic and cultural backgrounds.
Hence, Indonesia is perceived by both domestic and transnational drug dealers as a potential market due to its huge population and millions of drug users. The value of the drug trade in the country is estimated to have reached nearly Rp66 trillion.
In response to the illicit drugs that drug kingpins have smuggled into and traded in the country over the past few decades, the Indonesian government continues to apply punitive measures against them.
President Joko Widodo had also issued shoot-at-sight orders against drug kingpins.
However, this has failed to deter drug traffickers. They continue to treat Indonesia as one of their main markets even as Indonesian law enforcers continue their fight against them. (INE)
