Denpasar women's Penitentiary warden arrested over attempted meth smuggling

Badung, Bali (ANTARA) - Badung police arrested the Denpasar Women's Penitentiary warden, identified by her initials as ER, for attempting to allegedly smuggle one gram crystal methamphetamine into the female prison on Tuesday at around 7 p.m. local time.

"She is currently under the Badung police’s custody, and probe by police investigators into this drug case is currently underway, including to uncover whom she would hand over the drug package," spokesman of the Ministry of Law and Human Rights-Bali Office I Putu Surya Dharma remarked here, Wednesday.

ER, recruited as a civil servant in 2017 and who worked as a prison warden at the Denpasar Women's Penitentiary since 2018, attempted to smuggle a gram of crystal meth by concealing it inside a white smartphone charger box.

On the night of her arrest, ER had planned to work. While entering the prison's primary gate, the guards had followed regular security measures by conducting a check of her physically and of all items that she had brought, Dharma revealed.

The security guards grew suspicious after finding a phone charger box owing to its unclean appearance. On opening it, they found a gram of crystal meth inside. However, ER told the guards that it did not belong to her and claimed to know nothing about the charger box, Dharma stated.

The Badung police is currently investigating this drug case, he remarked.



Indonesia remains under grave threat from drug dealers, with several members of its working-age population trapped in a vicious cycle of drug abuse.

According to a report from the National Narcotics Agency (BNN), some 50 drug use-related deaths occur daily in Indonesia. However, the deaths have failed to deter other drug users in the country.

Users of crystal methamphetamine, narcotics, marijuana, and other addictive drugs transcend communities and socio-economic and cultural backgrounds.

Indonesia is perceived by both domestic and transnational drug dealers as a potential market due to its huge population and millions of drug users. Drug trade in the country is estimated at nearly Rp66 trillion.

In the face of the grave threat posed by drug lords, on December 5, 2019, BNN Chief Commissioner General Heru Winarko had held discussions with Security Minister Mahfud MD on matters pertaining to Indonesia's war on drugs, including the need to execute death row convicts.

"Capital punishment is part of the laws that should be imposed," Winarko had stated following his meeting with the coordinating minister for political, legal, and security affairs.