Jakarta (ANTARA) - Indonesia's National Narcotics Agency (BNN) and the Russian government are planning to launch a joint program to boost the capacity of BNN personnel to combat drug abuse and trafficking.
Head of the BNN Commissioner General Marthinus Hukom discussed the plan during a meeting with Deputy Russian Ambassador to Indonesia Veronika Novoseltseva in Jakarta on July 17, 2025.
In a statement released here on Monday, Hukom emphasized that Indonesia urgently needs such an initiative, given that the number of drug abusers in the country reached roughly 3.33 million in 2023.
“The absence of serious measures will have disastrous effects on the future of this nation’s youth,” he cautioned.
He added that he will soon coordinate with the relevant officials to follow up on the capacity-building plan.
In addition to this, Hukom and Novoseltseva also exchanged views on terrorist groups funding their activities through drug trafficking.
The BNN chief and deputy ambassador then explored potential cooperation in tracking and blocking the assets of such groups.
During the meeting, Hukom was accompanied by Head of the BNN’s Center for Research on Data and Information Agustinus Berlianto Pangaribuan.
Earlier, Hukom noted that international drug rings have continued to evolve, as evident from the 24-percent increase in the volume of methamphetamine seized across East Asia and Southeast Asia in 2024 compared to the previous year.
“This trend is an alarm warning all countries in the region of a serious threat,” he said during a briefing on the 2025 World Drug Report in Jakarta on July 16.
Domestically, he highlighted that the BNN uncovered 27 drug networks in 2025 and confiscated two tons of meth in Riau Islands province in May this year.
With this in mind, he stressed that law enforcement must be complemented by preventive measures to curb drug trafficking more effectively.
