Two drug users were arrested in two locations in Papua, Indonesia’s easternmost state, on Monday.
Papua police spokesperson Ahmad Kamals said a suspect named Maikel, also known as Koko, was caught with four packs of crystal methamphetamine and a bong [smoking implement] near the Youtefa area, Antara News reported.
A second suspected drug user named Acan was arrested in Kotaraja. The two men told authorities that an inmate in the Doyo Baru Narcotics Prison gave them the drugs.
A report by the National Narcotics Agency said about 50 Indonesians die of drug abuse every day. Indonesia is a target market for both local and external drug dealers, given its large drug-using population.
Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan, the former coordinating minister for political, legal and security affairs, said about 75% of the drugs distributed in the country were controlled from criminals inside national prisons.
The Indonesian drug trade was worth at least 66 trillion rupiah or US$4.44 billion.
To combat the phenomenon, the government has employed harsh sanctions against the drug market. President Joko Widodo has gone to the extent of ordering shoot-on-sight operations when drug lords are confronted.