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INDONESIA
A.1. Status of Illicit Narcotics Production/Trafficking
Indonesia produces large quantities of cannabis, or "ganja", in several parts of the country, but there are no precise crop estimates. Although much of the illicit production is consumed locally, Indonesian ganja's high tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) level (9-14 percent) gives it export markets in Holland, Malaysia, Singapore and especially Australia and New Zealand. Some may find its way to the United States. Ganja leaves the country in dried leaf form, by every means of transportation available.
Indonesia does not produce illicit opiates, amphetamines, barbiturates, methaqualone, or precursor chemicals. Since mid-1984, there have been no reported cases of significant illicit coca production, but the National Police Narcotics Operational Command (NOC) has confiscated small amounts of back-yard production. Small amounts of cocaine, apparently imported by Australians returning from South America, are available for purchase in Bali and Jakarta. According to the NOC, the street price for cocaine has remained constant for several years.
Evidence continues to accumulate that Indonesia is used as a transit point for illicit drugs from the Golden Triangle and other areas. Indonesia's archipelagic geography and endless miles of unpatrolled maritime borders make transportation by a wide variety of sea and air vessels possible. The government's exceptionally difficult task in policing its borders leaves few difficulties in smuggling goods into the sparsely populated island of Sumatra. The primary modes of drug transportation have been commercial aircraft, inter-island and larger cargo vessels, fishing and luxury sea craft.
According to police, the major heroin trafficking route through Indonesia originates in Penang, Malaysia, moves into the country through northern Sumatra and then to Jakarta, Surabaya and Bali. From Bali most heroin and other drugs (primarily ganja) travel by commercial airflights or private vessels to Australia, New Zealand, Western Europe and, to a lesser extent, the United States. The amounts surfacing in U.S. markets do not appear to be significant.
Little information exists concerning traffickers. Police believe ethnic Chinese are involved, especially those living in the Riau Islands, located between Sumatra and Singapore, and the fishing communities along the western coast of Sumatra.