Pubdate: Mon, 19 May 2014
Source: Bali Daily (Indonesia)
Copyright: 2014 PT. Bina Media Tenggara
Contact:  http://www.thebalidaily.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/5517
Author: Ni Komang Erviani

BNN WARNS OF INCREASED DRUG TRAFFICKING IN BALI

With the school and summer holidays approaching, the National
Narcotics Agency (BNN) Bali office says it will work closely with the
police, airport and port managements and related agencies to foil any
drug smuggling and trafficking attempts in Bali.

"The holiday season [between June and August] has not yet arrived but
we have already dealt with two major drug cases within the space of a
week," BNN Bali chief I Gusti Ketut Budhiarta told journalists over
the weekend.

Budhiarta said many drug smuggling cases in Bali occurred during the
holiday period.

Last Wednesday, Bali learned of the "smuggling" of 715 grams of
crystal methamphetamine, locally known as shabu-shabu, into the island
from South Africa via mail.

Two days later on Friday, Ngurah Rai International Airport customs
officers arrested a 84-year-old Madurese man for attempting to enter
Bali carrying 2.5 kilograms of shabu-shabu, valued at around Rp 5
billion (US$500,000)

"The holiday season is a time where Bali welcomes 100,000s of domestic
and foreign tourists. Based on previous cases, illicit drug dealers
and traffickers may take advantage of this season," Budhiarta said.

The Bali provincial administration has set the ambitious target of
welcoming 4 million foreign tourists and 6 million domestic tourists
in 2014.

"Ngurah Rai has often been used as an entrance for drug smugglers
before they distribute drugs to other destinations in Indonesia,"
added Budhiarta.

Wayan Rideng, a criminologist from Panji Sakti University in
Singaraja, Buleleng, previously said that narcotic-related crimes were
complex, so investigators needed to understand the intricate workings
of drug syndicates and be alert as to how traffickers disguised their
activities, Rideng said.

Local narcotics crime was likely connected to national and
international drug syndicates, he said.

Bali was a hotbed of drug trafficking involving locals and foreigners,
couriers and dealers, Rideng added.

Foreigners and Indonesians from outside Bali are a common sight on the
island, the nation's most popular tourist destination.

"Disguised as tourists, drug traffickers have been able to smuggle
cocaine, marijuana, ecstasy pills, crystal methamphetamine and other
drugs in and out of Bali," he said. "Bali is a perfect transit place
for these crimes. Kuta and other famous tourists sites are known
danger zones."

Separately, Ida Bagus Ngurah Wijaya, the head of the Bali chapter of
the Indonesian Tourism Industry Association (GIPI), admitted that many
foreigners took advantage of the country's weak security at its
international gateways to conduct various illegal activity including
drug trafficking.

But Wijaya also blamed the government's move to prioritize high
numbers of incoming tourists to boost its income.

"Here [in Bali], anyone can arrive as long as they pay a visa on
arrival fee. Some people come here to run illegal business, including
drug trafficking," he said.

A survey jointly conducted by BNN and the University of Indonesia's
(UI) center for health research estimated that the number of active
drug users in Bali was at 50,553 people, or 1.8 percent of the
island's 4 million population in 2012.

Illegal drug trafficking to Bali involves hundreds of people from
various countries including Australia, China, Iran, Malaysia, New
Zealand, Thailand, the UK, the US and some African countries.

In addition, there are dozens of high-profile inmates convicted of
drug crimes housed in several correctional institutions in Bali. 
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MAP posted-by: Jo-D