Jakarta Indonesia Sentinel — Indonesian National Police’s Criminal Investigation Unit (Bareskrim) have dismantled a longstanding Jambi drug cartel, with an estimated illicit financial turnover of Rp 1 trillion (approximately $65 million).
The Jambi drug cartel controlled by three siblings, Dedi Susanto, known as Tekui, Tek Min, and Helen Dian Krisnawati, according to Secretary of the Directorate for Narcotics Eradication, Alberd Teddy Benhard Sianipar.
During a press conference held on Wednesday, October 16, 2024, in South Jakarta, Alberd revealed that the cartel had been using a series of money laundering schemes to conceal the profits of their illegal drug trade.
“The perpetrators employed three main methods of operation, including the use of nominee bank accounts, high-frequency cash deposits and withdrawals, and mingling funds from illegal activities with legitimate businesses,” he stated.
Alberd explained that nominee accounts were a key tactic used by the suspects, in which bank accounts were opened in other people’s names, but the drug dealers maintained full control over the ATM cards, internet banking access, and passbooks.
In addition to this, the cartel engaged in frequent cash deposits and withdrawals to obscure the substantial amounts of money flowing through their accounts. Although the account balances appeared small, investigators uncovered that nearly Rp1.1 trillion had passed through these accounts between 2010 and 2014.
This drug cartel was also indicated mingling, which involved blending illicit drug proceeds with revenue from legal businesses to disguise the source of the funds.
“They combined illegal profits with income from legitimate businesses, such as clothing shops, mobile phone accessory stores, and gym operations,” Alberd explained.
The profits from the cartel’s drug trade were largely spent on lavish lifestyles, assets, and further investments in both legal and illegal enterprises.
“A significant portion of the criminal proceeds was used for luxury living, buying assets, and funding other criminal activities,” Alberd added.
He also emphasized the strong link between narcotics crimes and money laundering, noting a rising trend in laundering money from drug-related offenses in Indonesia.
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The cartel has been selling methamphetamine, locally known as sabu, through a network of seven distribution hubs in Jambi since 2014. These so-called “basecamps” were selling between 500 to 1,000 grams of sabu per week, generating weekly earnings of Rp500 million to Rp1 billion ($65,000).
Besides drug trafficking, the cartel is suspected of funneling money through illegal alcohol sales and a variety of legitimate businesses, including gyms, mobile phone accessory stores, and clothing shops.
(Raidi/Agung)
