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Viewing cable 10JAKARTA74, INDONESIA-2009 INTERNATIONAL NARCOTICS CONTROL STRATEGY

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Reference ID Created Released Classification Origin
10JAKARTA74 2010-01-19 10:29 2011-08-24 01:00 UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY Embassy Jakarta
VZCZCXRO1622
OO RUEHDT RUEHPB
DE RUEHJA #0074/01 0191029
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 191029Z JAN 10
FM AMEMBASSY JAKARTA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 4306
INFO RUCNARF/ASEAN REGIONAL FORUM COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEAWJB/DEPT OF JUSTICE WASHDC
RUEABND/DEA HQ WASHDC
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC
RHHMUNA/USPACOM HONOLULU HI
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHDC
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHDC
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 05 JAKARTA 000074 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR EAP, EAP/MTS, EAP/MLS, EAP/RSP, EAP/INR, S/CT, MCC 
DEPARTMENT FOR INL/J. LYLE, A. BLOOMQUIST 
NSC FOR D. WALTON 
SINGAPORE FOR DEA 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PREL SNAR KMCA MCC ASEC ID
 
SUBJECT: INDONESIA-2009 INTERNATIONAL NARCOTICS CONTROL STRATEGY 
REPORT (INSCR) PART 1, DRUGS AND CHEMICAL CONTROL 
 
REF: STATE 097309 
 
1.  (SBU) This message is Sensitive, but Unclassified - Please 
handle accordingly. 
 
2. (SBU) The following is the draft text of the 2009-2010 Indonesia 
International Narcotics Control Strategy Report (INSCR) Part 1, 
Drugs and Chemical Control for Indonesia.  Please treat as 
Sensitive, but Unclassified until the report is finalized for 
submission to Congress. 
 
Begin text: 
- 
I. Summary 
The most drastic and positive counternarcotics development for 2009 
in Indonesia--the fourth largest country in population in the 
world--was the new narcotics law signed by the Indonesian President 
on October 12, 2009, which established the Indonesian National 
Narcotics Board (BNN) as an independent law enforcement agency.  The 
law includes drastically expanded investigative powers for BNN, 
including direct engagement with prosecutors to initiate 
prosecutions, and the authority to conduct wiretapping, and ability 
to reach out internationally to initiate and conduct transnational 
investigations.  Indonesia's new counternarcotics law also grants 
BNN more authority to investigate and punish illegal trafficking of 
precursor chemicals, effective January 1, 2010. 
 
Indonesia is a producing, consuming, and transit country. 
Previously, clandestine MDMA (Ecstasy) and methamphetamine 
laboratories were large-scale, but in 2009, the clandestine 
laboratory operations that were seized were smaller in size.  In 
2009, Indonesia increased seizures of smaller laboratories with 
smaller outputs.  This indicates manufacturing organizations are 
downsizing their laboratories, most likely in response to Indonesian 
law enforcement's effective seizures of large production 
laboratories.  This development indicates manufacturing 
organizations recognize they have much more to lose if large 
quantities of their products are seized at any one given location. 
There are also indications that laboratories are being moved outside 
large metropolitan areas to rural areas where law enforcement is not 
as prevalent. 
 
Coastlines and a lack of border and port security resources remain 
an issue for counternarcotics efforts. However, BNN and the 
Indonesian Navy (TNI-Navy) established a memorandum of understanding 
(MOU) in November 2008 to conduct joint maritime counter-narcotics 
operations.  In December of 2009, BNN exercised the MOU with 
TNI-Navy, Customs, Immigration, Quarantine and Fisheries by putting 
26 ships under the command and control of BNN for 7 days patrolling 
Indonesia's maritime borders from Aceh to Pontianak.  Further joint 
maritime operations are scheduled for 2010. 
 
Methamphetamine, ketamine and Ecstasy are the main narcotics 
smuggled in via waterways.  Heroin, methamphetamine, ketamine and 
Ecstasy are imported via airways.  The majority of marijuana 
trafficking is conducted by land transportation from Aceh to other 
areas of Indonesia through the Sunda Straits via waterway. 
 
Some remote seaports on the Malacca Strait are manned by a handful 
of customs and BNN personnel.  Inadequate health care, demand 
reduction and rehabilitation programs remained an issue.  The amount 
of methamphetamine imported into Indonesia and the number of 
methamphetamine laboratories in Indonesia indicated ready 
availability of methamphetamine, which is believed to be the most 
abused drug in Indonesia. 
 
The Indonesian counter narcotics code is sufficiently inclusive to 
cover arrest, prosecution and adjudication of narcotics cases. 
Nevertheless, corruption in Indonesia is an on-going challenge to 
the rule of law.  The level of political corruption in Indonesia 
seriously limits the effectiveness of narcotics law enforcement and 
poses the most significant threat to the country's counter drug 
strategy.  Upon the commission of BNN as a law enforcement entity, 
as noted above, BNN received authority to conduct narcotics-related 
investigations; this will greatly increase BNN's effectiveness in 
dismantling large drug trafficking organizations. 
 
 
JAKARTA 00000074  002 OF 005 
 
 
II. Status of Country 
 
The majority of pseudoephedrine imported into Indonesia is from 
China.  Large-sized clandestine laboratories seized in Indonesia are 
becoming a thing of the past, and smaller-sized laboratories are 
becoming prevalent in Indonesia.  Laws are still lax, but beginning 
in 2010, agencies will have more authority to regulate the 
importation of precursor chemicals.  Numerous legitimate large 
international pharmaceutical and chemical corporations continue to 
operate throughout Indonesia. 
 
The scale of amphetamine type stimulant (ATS) manufacturing in 
Indonesia Q`fXE:phetamine. 
 
Chinese and Taiwanese importing, distributing and manufacturing 
organizations remain the most significant drug trafficking threat in 
Indonesia. 
 
Iranian drug trafficking organizations (DTOs) that smuggle large 
amounts of methamphetamine into Indonesia via Iranian couriers are 
an emerging threat.  During October 19-20, 2009 alone, Indonesian 
customs seized approximately 50 kilograms of3C{_i_~QQ a 
warrant.  Corrupt investigators are suspected of initiating 
investigations to elicit bribes from suspects.  Corrupt prosecutors 
in narcotics cases reportedly request bribes for a reduction in 
charges with defense attorneys serving as facilitators. 
 
Unauthorized wire taps conducted by the Indonesian National Police 
against the Anti-Corruption Commission came to light in mid-2009, 
inflaming the public's perception of the police and judicial system 
as corrupt. 
 
Agreements and Treaties. Indonesia is a party to the 1988 UN Drug 
Convention, the 1971 UN Convention on Psychotropic Substances and 
the 1961 UN Single Convention as amended by its 1972 Protocol. 
Indonesia is a party to the UN Convention against Corruption and has 
signed but not yet ratified the UN Convention against Transnational 
Organized Crime. 
 
Cultivation/Production. The production of MDMA, methamphetamines, 
and other synthetic drugs is one of the most significant drug 
threats in Indonesia.  Indonesian and Chinese trafficking syndicates 
exploit Indonesia's lax precursor chemical controls, weak law 
enforcement, and political corruption to establish MDMA and 
methamphetamine laboratories capable of producing multi-hundred 
kilogram quantities. 
 
These syndicates secure precursor chemicals from China.  Previously, 
production syndicates relied upon chemists trained in the 
Netherlands for the production of MDMA (Ecstasy), as well as 
chemists from Taiwan and Hong Kong for the production of crystal 
methamphetamine.  However, recent laboratory seizures by Indonesian 
law enforcement showed that Indonesians and Chinese-Indonesians are 
capably taking the role of chemists. 
 
A MDMA and methamphetamine laboratory seizure took place in Depok, 
West Java on May 4, 2009.  This two-month-long investigation was 
initiated by the Metro Jaya Police Department.  As a result of this 
investigation, 4 tons of various chemicals, 30 kilograms of 
methamphetamine, 128 kilograms of ephedrine and 1700 Ecstasy pills 
were seized, and 15 people were arrested.  Police officials 
estimated that if all the raw materials in the laboratory were used, 
11.5 million Ecstasy pills could have been produced. 
 
Marijuana is cultivated throughout Indonesia; the equatorial climate 
of Sumatra allows for year-round growing and cultivation of 
marijuana.  Large-scale (greater than 20 hectares) marijuana 
cultivation occurs in the remote and sparsely populated regions of 
the province, often in mountainous areas.  Regional marijuana 
cultivation syndicates are believed to be exploiting police 
 
JAKARTA 00000074  003 OF 005 
 
 
use for the well-to-do in Indonesian society and is readily 
available at high-end clubs in Jakarta.  Officials suspect cocaine 
is being transshipped through Indonesia via commercial air carrier 
en route to Australia and Japan, with small user amounts remaining 
in Indonesia for use by Western tourists. 
 
III. Country Actions Against Drugs In 2009 
 
Policy Initiatives. Indonesia completed an extensive overhaul of its 
national narcotics legislation on 12 October 2009, giving BNN 
national policy making and enforcement authorities in the areas of 
prevention, rehabilitation, law enforcement, legal affairs and 
cooperation with prosecutors, and community empowerment and 
outreach.  BNN will direct its law enforcement efforts against 
larger national and international drug syndicates while the national 
police will continue to handle local and street level drug crimes. 
 
BNN is currently expanding offices to all 32 provinces, and 482 
cities and municipalities.  In addition, BNN is expanding its staff 
and law enforcement agents for current strength of approximately 500 
to 5000 in the next 3 to 5 years.  BNN currently funds and runs a 
drug rehabilitation center for approximately 200 patients and is in 
the process of building a national narcotics training academy funded 
by the U.S. 
 
According to BNN, the GOI has established policies and strategies in 
a "goal-oriented rolling Plan of Action", consisting of three-year 
stages.  These stages will continue until Indonesia reaches a 
drug-free condition, hopefully by 2015. The primary policy goals of 
Indonesia's National Drug Plan, as defined by the Government of 
Indonesia, are: 1) To minimize the level of illness, disease, injury 
and premature death associated with the use of illicit drugs; 2) To 
minimize the level and impact of drug-related crime and violence 
within the community; and 3) To minimize the loss of productivity 
and other economic costs associated with illicit drug use. 
 
Law Enforcement Efforts.  Both the Indonesian National Narcotics 
Board (BNN) and the Indonesian National Police (INP) Narcotics and 
Organized Crime Directorate continued to improve their ability to 
investigate and dismantle national and international drug 
trafficking syndicates.  BNN and the Narcotics Directorate have 
become increasingly active in regional targeting conferences 
designed to coordinate efforts against transnational drug 
organizations. 
 
BNN and the Indonesian National Police, Narcotics and Organized 
Crime Directorate, have a good working relationship with European 
(French, Belgium, Netherlands)   and regional (Thailand, Malaysia, 
Singapore, Philippines, Australian, Japan, Korea) counterparts and 
participate in joint programs and investigations with the Department 
of Justice Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) and International Criminal 
Investigative Training Assistance Program (ICITAP), JIATF West, and 
other U.S. agencies. 
 
Per BNN statistics for the period of January through June 2009, 
there were a total of 17,910 drug-related arrests.  Indonesia seized 
the following amounts during the time period: 4,545 kilograms of 
marijuana, 2 kilograms of cocaine, 817 kilograms of Ecstasy, and 
3,724 kilograms of methamphetamine. 
 
The Indonesian Narcotics Control Board (BNN) continues to strive to 
improve interagency cooperation in drug enforcement, interdiction, 
and precursor control.  In 2005, under the auspices of BNN, the 
U.S.-sponsored Interagency Counter Drug Operations Center (JIACDOC) 
was opened in Jakarta.  JIACDOC is an Indonesian intelligence and 
operations center focused on counternarcotics and transnational 
crime intelligence collection and interdiction.  It is jointly 
staffed by the Indonesian National Police, Indonesian Customs, 
Indonesian Immigration and other Indonesian government 
organizations. 
 
Currently, JIACDOC is manned by approximately 60 personnel.  Under 
the new legislation, JIACDOC will expand to become the Indonesian 
National Narcotics Board Intelligence center with a staff of 
approximately 300 personnel in the next 3-5 years.  In addition, six 
JIACDOC outstations were established at key airports and seaports 
this year to provide BNN and its interagency partners with a 
 
JAKARTA 00000074  004 OF 005 
 
 
criminal information management network to consolidate information 
collection, investigations, and enforcement operations from the 
national to local level. 
 
The INP Narcotics and Organized Crime Directorate continues to 
improve its ability to investigate and dismantle international drug 
trafficking syndicates, as well as cooperate with other 
international law enforcement agencies. The Narcotics Directorate 
has become increasingly active in regional targeting conferences 
designed to coordinate efforts against transnational drug and crime 
organizations. Members of the Directorate, BNN and Indonesian 
Customs will attend the 2010 International Drug Enforcement 
Conference scheduled to take place in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil. 
 
Corruption. Indonesia has laws against official corruption and a 
somewhat-effective anti-corruption commission.  Despite these laws, 
corruption in Indonesia is endemic.  As a matter of government 
policy and practice, the GOI does not encourage or facilitate the 
illicit production or distribution of drugs or the laundering of 
proceeds from illegal transactions. 
 
Corruption of Indonesia's judiciary is pervasive and poses a 
significant threat to the country's counter drug strategy. 
Indonesian prosecutors' low wages encourage official corruption and 
explain a low level of motivation.  The average salary of an 
Indonesian prosecutor with 15 years of seniority is approximately 
$400 a month.  Furthermore, corrupt police and investigators 
reportedly abuse their authority by conducting illegal searches, as 
Indonesian courts do not exclude evidence obtained without a 
warrant.  Corrupt investigators are suspected of initiating 
investigations to elicit bribes from suspects.  Corrupt prosecutors 
in narcotics cases reportedly request bribes for a reduction in 
charges with defense attorneys serving as facilitators. 
 
Unauthorized wire taps conducted by the Indonesian National Police 
against the Anti-Corruption Commission came to light in mid-2009, 
inflaming the public's perception of the police and judicial system 
as corrupt. 
 
Agreements and Treaties. Indonesia is a party to the 1988 UN Drug 
Convention, the 1971 UN Convention on Psychotropic Substances and 
the 1961 UN Single Convention as amended by its 1972 Protocol. 
Indonesia is a party to the UN Convention against Corruption and has 
signed but not yet ratified the UN Convention against Transnational 
Organized Crime. 
 
Cultivation/Production. The production of MDMA, methamphetamines, 
and other synthetic drugs is one of the most significant drug 
threats in Indonesia.  Indonesian and Chinese trafficking syndicates 
exploit Indonesia's lax precursor chemical controls, weak law 
enforcement, and political corruption to establish MDMA and 
methamphetamine laboratories capable of producing multi-hundred 
kilogram quantities. 
 
These syndicates secure precursor chemicals from China.  Previously, 
production syndicates relied upon chemists trained in the 
Netherlands for the production of MDMA (Ecstasy), as well as 
chemists from Taiwan and Hong Kong for the production of crystal 
methamphetamine.  However, recent laboratory seizures by Indonesian 
law enforcement showed that Indonesians and Chinese-Indonesians are 
capably taking the role of chemists. 
 
A MDMA and methamphetamine laboratory seizure took place in Depok, 
West Java on May 4, 2009.  This two-month-long investigation was 
initiated by the Metro Jaya Police Department.  As a result of this 
investigation, 4 tons of various chemicals, 30 kilograms of 
methamphetamine, 128 kilograms of ephedrine and 1700 Ecstasy pills 
were seized, and 15 people were arrested.  Police officials 
estimated that if all the raw materials in the laboratory were used, 
11.5 million Ecstasy pills could have been produced. 
 
Marijuana is cultivated throughout Indonesia; the equatorial climate 
of Sumatra allows for year-round growing and cultivation of 
marijuana.  Large-scale (greater than 20 hectares) marijuana 
cultivation occurs in the remote and sparsely populated regions of 
the province, often in mountainous areas.  Regional marijuana 
cultivation syndicates are believed to be exploiting police 
 
JAKARTA 00000074  005 OF 005 
 
 
limitations by locating cultivation sites in remote and high 
elevation areas where there is little law enforcement presence. 
 
The Indonesian National Police report that marijuana trafficking in 
Indonesia is controlled by Indonesian syndicates based out of 
Jakarta.  The majority of marijuana cultivated in Indonesia is 
consumed domestically and typically is not trafficked to the 
international market.  Although cocaine seizures continue to occur 
in major Indonesian airports, the market for cocaine in Indonesia is 
believed to be very small. 
 
Historically, MDMA has been smuggled into Indonesia from sources in 
the Netherlands or produced in China and smuggled to Indonesia by 
Chinese organized crime syndicates based in Hong Kong.  However, in 
recent years, importation has been unnecessary as there has been 
large-scale MDMA and methamphetamine production in Indonesia.  MDMA 
and methamphetamine produced in Indonesia is trafficked both 
domestically and internationally. 
 
Demand Reduction. The GOI views drug abuse and narcotics trafficking 
as a major long-term threat to social and political stability.  They 
are also viewed as anti-Islamic activities.  Government agencies 
continue to promote counternarcotics abuse and HIV/AIDS awareness 
campaigns through various media outlets.  BNN is responsible for the 
development of Indonesia's demand reduction programs and continued a 
nation-wide anti-narcotics campaign. 
 
IV. U.S. Policy Initiatives and Programs 
 
Bilateral Cooperation. Indonesia and the U.S. maintain excellent law 
enforcement cooperation in narcotics cases. 
In 2009, DEA, in cooperation with the International Law Enforcement 
Academy, provided a narcotics commander's course and training in 
clandestine laboratories, chemical control, and basic intelligence. 
DEA also provided training in airport interdiction and practical 
applications. 
 
USPACOM JIATF West funded and supervised the construction of a 
200-person classroom for Indonesia's national counter narcotics 
academy for 2009, and will continue to support additional academy 
facilities in 2010. 
 
JIATF West personnel trained BNN, customs, immigration and marine 
police officers in basic computer and server administrator training, 
basic law enforcement intelligence training, and basic analyst's 
notebook training. 
 
The Road Ahead.  The U.S. continues to work with the INP and BNN to 
standardize and computerize reporting methods related to narcotics 
investigations and seizures, develop a drug intelligence database, 
and build an information network designed to connect to the major 
provinces of Indonesia.  This will permit all Indonesian law 
enforcement agencies to contribute to and access the database for 
investigations.  Also, the U.S. will work with the INP and BNN to 
further expand the scope and impact of narcotics investigations 
targeting the large-scale production of methamphetamine and MDMA in 
Indonesia. 
 
With the assistance of DEA, JIATF West is funding and helping plan 
the construction of the new national counter narcotics academy.  The 
academy is expected to open in August of 2010 (construction began in 
November 2009).  It is expected that the academy will evolve into a 
regional counterdrug center that will benefit Indonesian interagency 
and regional partners. 
 
In 2010, DEA is scheduled to officially open up a DEA office in 
Jakarta to include one Country Attache, one Special Agent and one 
Administrative Assistant. 
- 
End text. 
 
3. (U) Mission point-of-contact for this report is Poloff Brigid R. 
Weiller: weillerbr@state.gov 
 
HUME