VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Jakarta. Officers of the Indonesian police in Papua Province arrested a citizen of Papua New Guinea (PNG) on early Monday (March 22) for being allegedly involved in a cross-border drug trafficking network.

The police personnel confiscated five sacks of marijuana from the detainee, Director of the Papua Police Criminal Investigation Department-Narcotics Division Sen. Coms. Alfian stated.

The PNG citizen named Gadafi Kuentaw Waropo, 18, was apprehended in Many Island of Jayapura Selatan Sub-district, Jayapura City, following the arrest of Beny Toway Waropo, 28.

Waropo concealed the marijuana packages at a place in proximity to his home in Many Island, Alfian revealed.

Meanwhile, Waropo was apprehended in the Kali Acai neighborhood of Abepura on Sunday evening (March 21), Alfian told ANTARA here on Monday.

During a raid at his house, the cops discovered 21 packs of marijuana and a 10-kg rice bag, Alfian remarked, adding that the marijuana packages were smuggled into Papua from PNG.

However, Alfian has yet to gain concrete information on whether the drug packages were smuggled by sea or land since the case is being investigated by the Papua police.

In fighting drug rings in communities, Alfian urged local residents to assist the police by giving tip-offs if they spotted suspected activities in their neighborhood areas.

Domestic and transnational drug dealers view Indonesia as a potential market on account of its vast population and millions of drug users.

Indonesia has been dragged into a state of emergency over narcotics trade and abuse. Drug trade in the nation is valued at nearly Rp66 trillion.

Data indicates that people from all societal levels are falling prey to drugs in the country irrespective of their socio-economic and professional backgrounds.

Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, which struck the country on March 2, 2020, drug lords have continued to be a serious threat on account of rampant drug trafficking even amid the health crisis.

Since his first leadership term, President Joko Widodo has constantly reminded the people of the serious repercussions of drug consumption on Indonesia.

While inaugurating a grand mosque in Pontianak, West Kalimantan, on January 20, 2015, the head of state had cautioned that at least 50 people were dying of drug use daily.

The statistics included those who failed to get rehabilitated. According to the National Narcotics Agency (BNN), Indonesia had more than 3.3 million drug users in 2017.

The drug users belonged to the age group of 10-59 years, and the percentage of teenagers falling prey to drug addiction stood at 24-28 percent, according to the BNN.

Information on the agency's official website found that Indonesians in the age group of 15-35 years are at the highest risk of drug abuse.

In supporting their drug-trafficking networks in the country, drug lords are dragging not just people in their 30s into their drug rings but even those in their 20s. (Antaranews)

Jakarta. The Embassy of Pakistan in Jakarta celebrated the 81st National Day of Pakistan was celebrated on 23rd March 2021 in a simple but dignified ceremony, attended by members of the Pakistani community and Indonesians.

The function commenced with the hoisting of the National Flag by Ambassador Muhammad Hassan. Subsequently, the messages of the President and the Prime Minister of Pakistan, received on the occasion, were readout.

Speaking on the occasion, the Ambassador paid homage to the father of the Nation Qaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah, Poet of the East Dr. Allama Muhammad Iqbal, and all the leaders of the freedom movement who paved the way for the creation of Pakistan.

The Ambassador expressed unshakable support with the people of Indian who Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir and the resolve of the government and people of Pakistan to continue moral, political, and diplomatic support for their legitimate right of self-determination.

The Ambassador highlighted positive developments taking place in Pakistan since the coming to power of the new government in 2018. He mentioned the initiatives taken by the government for the socio-economic uplift of the people and for strengthening democratic institutions in Pakistan. He reiterated that in line with the guiding principles of Pakistan’s foreign policy, the government was keen to improve its relations with all countries of the world, as well as promoting regional cooperation and connectivity.

The Ambassador expressed his satisfaction over expanding bilateral relations between Pakistan and Indonesia, stressed the need to explore new vistas of bilateral cooperation, and mentioned that Pakistan was keen to deepen economic and trade relations with Indonesia to harness its full potentials.

The Ambassador urged the Pakistani community to follow necessary protocols and SOPs to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic for their safety and well-being. (VOI)

Jakarta. The U.S. Treasury Department said on Monday it was imposing sanctions on two members of Myanmar’s ruling junta, including the chief of police, and two military units linked to the deadly repression of protests again the army’s coup, as Washington warned of more action.

President Joe Biden’s administration has already blacklisted top junta members and some military-owned companies, but the military has refused to change course and increasingly used violence against anti-coup demonstrators, killing more than 250 people so far.

“Today’s actions send a strong signal that we will follow through on our pledges to continue to take action against coup leaders and those who perpetrate violence,” Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement.

The U.S. action came on the heels of the European Union imposing its own sanctions on Monday on 11 individuals linked to the Feb. 1 coup in Myanmar.

The U.S. Treasury’s action targeted Than Hlaing, a military officer who was appointed to lead the police force after the coup, and Lieutenant General Aung Soe, a special operations commander overseeing the crackdown.

The move essentially freezes any U.S. assets of those blacklisted and generally bars Americans from dealing with them.

The Treasury also blacklisted the army’s 77th Light Infantry Division and 33rd Light Infantry Division, which have been deployed to suppress anti-coup demonstrations in the largest city, Yangon, and second city of Mandalay.

“Video footage shows security forces riding pickup trucks while apparently indiscriminately firing live ammunition in multiple directions, including into people’s homes,” the Treasury said of the crackdowns.

The 33rd was one of two of the army’s elite light infantry units already under U.S. human rights sanctions for their roles in the military’s 2017 assault on Rohingya Muslims, which were first detailed in a Reuters special report. (Reuters)

Jakarta. A huge fire swept through a Rohingya refugee camp in southern Bangladesh on Monday, destroying thousands of homes and killing several people, officials and witnesses said, in the worst blaze to hit the settlement in recent years.

Video and photographs showed a blaze ripping through the Balukhali camp in Cox’s Bazar. Black smoke billowed over burning shanties and tents as people scrambled to recover their possessions.

“Fire services, rescue and response teams and volunteers are at the scene to try to control the fire and prevent it spreading further,” said Louise Donovan, spokesperson for U.N. refugee agency UNHCR in Cox’s Bazar.

Mohammed Shamsud Douza, the deputy Bangladesh government official in charge of refugees, said authorities were trying to control the blaze.

Rohingya refugees in the camps said many homes were burned down and several people had died, but neither the authorities nor the UNHCR could confirm the number of deaths. The cause of the blaze has not been established.

More than a million Rohingya live in the camps in southern Bangladesh, the vast majority having fled Myanmar in 2017 from a military-led crackdown that U.N. investigators said was executed with “genocidal intent”, charges Myanmar denies.

Zaifur Hussein, a 50-year-old refugee who escaped the fire but lost his home and was sheltering with friends, said he believed dozens may have been killed and that fencing around the camps made it difficult to flee.

“When we were in Myanmar we faced lots of problems... they destroyed everything,” he said. “Now it has happened again.”

Snigdha Chakraborty, the Bangladesh director for Catholic Relief Services, said she was worried about the lack of medical facilities in the area.

“Medical facilities are basic and burns require sophisticated treatment, plus hospital beds are already partly taken up with COVID-19 patients,” she said. “Most likely there will be fatalities because the fire is so large.”

A Rohingya leader in Cox’s Bazar, a sliver of land bordering Myanmar in southeastern Bangladesh, said he saw several dead bodies.

“Thousand of huts were totally burned down,” Mohammed Nowkhim told Reuters.

Another large blaze tore through the camp in January, destroying homes but causing no casualties.

The risk of fire in the densely populated camps is high, and Monday’s blaze was the largest yet, said Onno Van Manen, Country Director of Save the Children in Bangladesh.

“It is another devastating blow to the Rohingya refugees who live here. Just a couple of days ago we lost one of our health facilities in another fire,” he said.

The UNHCR said humanitarian partners had mobilised hundreds of volunteers from nearby camps for the support operation, as well as fire safety vehicles and equipment. (Reuters)