Efforts to Eradicate Narcotics in The National Police: A Case Study of Teddy Minahasa

Edi Saputra Hasibuan¹, Amalia Syauket²

 Bhayangkara University Jakarta Raya, Indonesia

E-mail: [email protected], [email protected]

Article Information	ABSTRACT
Received: 26 March 2023 Revised: April 10, 2023 Approved: April 11, 2023 Online: April 11, 2023	Narcotics are still the enemy of all civilizations around the world, this war that is still raging indefinitely takes a lot of time, energy, and thought. The real threat from the existence of narcotics clearly lurks all levels of society without exception, as well as the law enforcement of this country. The case of a National Police official, Inspector General Teddy Minahasa, is concrete evidence that no one escapes the temptation of narcotics and all the benefits provided by drug trafficking. Drug abuse and irregularities in its handling have reached an alarming stage, in this case the existence of drug evidence that was then used for resale by Teddy Minahasa who served as a two-star general, provides a new test for the National Police. This paper will highlight how legal handling through related laws and regulations, facts on the ground through case examples, and what steps have been taken by the National Police institution in suppressing and eradicating abuse and irregularities related to narcotics in their own bodies, of course this is very important considering they are law enforcers where public trust in the state is on the shoulders of this institution.
Keywords
Narcotics, Handling, Indonesian Police

INTRODUCTION

The development of a country can be measured by their success rate in eradicating a problem, because it is clear that one of the biggest problems faced by this country is regarding drugs. It can be said that the stage of deviation and abuse of drugs in Indonesia is already at a very dangerous point, this is not without reason, the increase in drug cases from year to year indicates that there has been no significant change in the suppression and eradication of drug abuse. Referring to data collected from the National Narcotics Agency (BNN), the author took the example of the two most commonly used types of psychotropics, namely marijuana and meth, in data released by BNN in 2022, around 22,950 cases were detected while after investigations as many as 43,804 suspected meth users, then marijuana drug users were found as many as 2,105 cases and 3,690 people who became suspects after development and  investigation.(Nasikha, 2023)(Fatgehipon, 2023; Zairusi, 2022)(Yuwana et al., 2022)

The massive circulation of narcotics is already at a level that deserves to be wary of, one of the reasons is because drug circulation is no longer only in big cities, but has been evenly distributed even to small towns and rural areas, data shows that residents in villages from vulnerable aged 15-24 years have been users for one year it was at 1.83 percent in 2020,  Whereas previously it was at 0.80 percent, as well as the age of 50-64 years was originally 0.30 percent, rising to 1.38 percent, although at the age of 25-49 years it decreased from 2.50 percent to 1.61 percent.(Ricardo, 2012)

The increasing number of drug abuse is directly proportional to the rapid circulation of narcotics in the community, both from small (bandar) players, to players who are already big class. This rapid circulation certainly requires the presence of law enforcement, namely the National Police. As an institution authorized to eradicate crime in the field and keep the country's situation safe, of course the National Police has a heavy task and bears the trust of the community, but the problem is when unscrupulous members of the Police show deviant behavior, both participating as drug users, and as protectors of agents who distribute illicit goods. (Hariyanto, 2018)(Tarigan et al., 2013)

The case of one of the top police officials, Irjen Teddy Minahasa, made the name of the National Police institution must be smeared, until the time of this writing this case is in the process of trial. Teddy Minahasa is suspected of embezzlement of 5 kg of meth evidence, the beginning of this case departed from a community report which then when followed up found results that led to several members of the National Police with the rank of Bripka and Kompol who also served as police chief, the investigation did not stop at the police chief, further searches made the name of Teddy Minahasa have to be dragged,  because of the emergence of this allegation to Irjen Teddy Minahasa, then the Police Propam division provided security to the suspect, and because of his actions, Teddy Minahasa was threatened with the death penalty, and also PTDH (dishonorable dismissal).

The war on drugs is mandatory and remains at a serious level, against members of the National Police themselves who are users and or protectors of drug dealers, firm action must be taken, it is mandatory that the National Police be sharper towards its own members before firmly eradicating in society, because it is related to the trust and self-esteem of the National Police, this paper will highlight several drug cases whose cases involve unscrupulous members of the National Police,  and then focus on eradication efforts carried out by the National Police itself, through related rules and policies that are currently being enforced.

METHODS

Research will be carried out normatively applied to this paper, through a review of each regulation, existing rules, as well as implementation, and will then be combined with literature studies as well as literature studies through analyzing papers, journals, books, print media, as well as online news related to the prohibition of drug use and all other violations for each member of the police. Cases, evaluations, and breakthroughs made by the National Police institution. The target of the intended data is related to cases of drug abuse in the police, and how the rules and legal solutions through the form of justice and code of ethics proceedings.

RESULTS

1. Circle of Drug Abuse Cases by Unscrupulous Members of the National Police

One of the cases that was successfully revealed and quite horrendous was about a drug case involving a high-ranking National Police officer who had participated in the trial, namely Teddy Minahasa. How a two-star general who is essentially a leader (the last position is the regional police chief) for his subordinates, actually commits deviations by embezzling drug evidence, and then afterwards recirculates the illicit goods for sale, public trust that clearly depends on the National Police as law enforcement can collapse and fall to pieces if a chief commits a serious violation of the law,  In addition, in this case itself, he has not undergone a code of ethics hearing from the National Police which indicates that Teddy Minahasa still holds the position of two-star general, because the National Police itself is waiting for a hearing or verdict from the judge, so as not to be mistaken in giving a decision on Teddy's position, of course this is also one of the problems that must be resolved, the Indonesian Police Strategic Studies Institute has proposed to speed up the ethics commission hearing on Inspector General Teddy Minahasa so that  still seen as safeguarding the spirit of the institution.(Jainah, 2011)

In 2022, Teddy Minahasa was arrested on suspicion of storing evidence of unlicensed catches, and then trafficking drugs weighing around 5 kg back to the community along with his men. This action was carried out by Teddy by giving orders to his men to exchange meth for alum, this was to avoid suspicion and complete the need for evidence destruction, so the meth should have been destroyed by burning, but it turned out that the contents had been replaced with alum.(Musy, 2015)

As of this writing, Teddy Minahasa has been arrested and has undergone court proceedings with several people who are also entangled, they are none other than Teddy Minahasa's men. In the statement submitted by the prosecutor, Teddy Minahasa is alleged to have given orders and / or directions to AKBP Doddy Prawiranegara who at that time served as Bukittinggi Police Chief to replace meth with alum, although in his confession Doddy Prawiranegara did not dare to follow the order. The total catch at that time was about 41 kg of methamphetamine of which 36 kg was destroyed and another 5 kg had been converted into alum, as if it were methamphetamine caught.

Furthermore, not only as perpetrators who trade drugs, especially from catches that become evidence, the behavior of rogue members of the National Police is also often troubling when they actually become backers (protectors) against drug dealers, both from a small scale to a large scale, usually this protection is related to large amounts of drugs, shipping between cities and countries,  as well as being very expensive when sold in the market.(Script & Muhibbin, 2022a, 2022b)

In February 2023 the National Narcotics Agency (BNN) of North Toraja City succeeded in arresting a drug case involving several people as suspects, what is interesting and quite horrendous is when these suspects suddenly spoke loudly that they were protected by a number of unscrupulous members of the Police, the evidence presented at that time was methamphetamine-type narcotics, money, suction devices,  and some mobile phones. The quite vulgar incident attracted the attention of many parties as well as adding to the black record and the homework of the National Police increased, not long after that the National Police immediately deployed its members who were in the South Sulawesi Police Propam division to find and reveal the whereabouts of the "protector".(Rahman, 2020)

Drug cases that befall members of the National Police can be said to be very diverse, if the two cases above are divided into suppliers (dealers), and backers (protectors), then the next case is abuse by unscrupulous members who are dealers as well as drug users themselves. A recent case was caused by two members of the Genteng Police Station and Saradan Police Station in Surabaya, these two members distributed methamphetamine-type narcotics to dealers, and then the dealers continued to the community. This case was revealed because the development of drug cases that previously involved civilians, was not completed until there, after thorough development and examination, these two members also turned out to be positive for using methamphetamine, based on what was conveyed by the Madiun Police Chief, AKBP Anton Prasetyo that there may still be members involved regardless of these two individuals who have been secured. Both of them were stipulated under article 114 of the Narcotics Law which resulted in them being threatened with a maximum sentence of life.

Some of the above cases are a slap in the face for our institutions to improve themselves and develop even more, a very bitter irony becomes the fact that law enforcers turn into lawbreakers, and protectors for those who violate the law, and because this greatly affects the image of the National Police, police officers who use illicit goods clearly violate the code of ethics and mainly violate criminal provisions,  Various sanctions await, the existence of ethical sanctions will not eliminate criminal charges against members who have violated.(Hutagaol, 2019)

2. Efforts to Revamp and Eradicate the National Police Against Each Member

Massive Arrests and Disclosures

The increase in drug crime cases involving unscrupulous members of the police is very tarnishing the good name of the National Police itself, and therefore the first effort made is to eradicate all cases involving members, at the beginning of 2023, the National Police has carried out various kinds of actions leading to drug eradication since the first 20 days of work in 2023,  Approximately 2,004 cases of drugs and psychotropic drugs have been acted upon by the National Police, this figure can be said to be quite fantastic considering that the activity lasted for 20 days, this indicates that since the first 20 days of 2023 alone there have been more than two thousand cases revealed, and of course there are still other cases that have not been and will be investigated. In the period from January 1 to 10, 2023, there were 837 cases which then significantly increased from January 11 to 20, which was 1,167 cases, such a large number indicates very clearly that drug trafficking is so massive, from the results of the crackdown on thousands of cases, the National Police arrested one of the police officers who participated in the drug case,  he was the YBK Police Commissioner for whom he was threatened with a minimum sentence of four years, and of course dishonorably dismissed as a member of the National Police.

Dismissal, Conviction, and Regular Urine Tests

This massive arrest and enforcement is certainly a quick response from the National Police considering the increasing number of their members who deviate and commit violations, as if this undermines and destroys the institution from within if this virus is not eradicated quickly. In various press conferences and interviews conducted by National Police Chief General Listyo Sigit, he said firmly that those (members) who dare to abuse drugs will be eradicated and destroyed, because based on what he said that law enforcement should eradicate drugs, and not be part of it.(Reza, 2016)

Supervision of members of the National Police is also tightened at any time, this was conveyed by the Head of the Police Public Relations Division Nurul Azizah, according to him all violations that occur by members of the National Police will be sanctioned without hesitation, the lightest sanction is demotion and if necessary immediately fired (PTDH), this is adjusted to the level of professionalism of the National Police which goes hand in hand with the level of public trust,  therefore this sentence was officially delivered by the National Police.

The seriousness in "destroying" members involved with drugs is shown by a telegram letter by the Chief of Police, the main point of which is to order to fire and criminalize members involved in drugs indiscriminately and tolerantly even fellow members. In addition, the order of the Chief of Police also gives directions to the Chief of Police to carry out periodic urine tests for every member in his area, both each work unit, regional unit, and all divisions, in order to conduct early detection for each member, while the unit that succeeds in uncovering drug cases specifically involving members of the Civil Service and the National Police will get a direct prize or award.(Prabowo & Hamdan, n.d.)

Emphasis on applicable rules

   On every occasion the National Police also emphasized that police members as law enforcers do not eliminate their obligation to participate in obeying the applicable law, currently the law on narcotics has been updated since 2009, and at one point clearly states the punishment for police members and civil servants who use drugs, namely:

A. Criminal Acts for Police Investigators, BNN Investigators, and Civil Servants who do not implement the provisions of evidence (article 140) shall be punished with a minimum imprisonment of 1 (one) year and a maximum of 10 (ten) years and a fine of Rp. 100,000,000 (one hundred million rupiah) and a maximum of Rp. 1,000,000,000 (one billion rupiah).     

B. Criminal acts for the Chief District Attorney who does not implement the provisions of article 91 paragraph (1) and article 141 shall be punished with a maximum imprisonment of 1 (one) year and a maximum of 10 (ten) years and a fine of Rp. 100,000,000 (one hundred million rupiah) and a maximum of Rp. 1,000,000,000 (one billion rupiah).   

   The provisions contained in article 140 refer to the handling of evidence contained in article 88, in the case of Teddy Minahasa where he changed and took evidence, or in other words embezzled methamphetamine drug evidence and exchanged it for alum, it is clear that this action has violated the provisions of article 140 which reads "Investigators of certain civil servants who confiscate Narcotics and Narcotic Precursors must  make minutes of confiscation and hand over the confiscated goods along with the minutes to BNN investigators or investigators of the local National Police of the Republic of Indonesia within a maximum of 3 x 24 (three times twenty-four) hours from the seizure and copies of the minutes are submitted to the chief local district attorney, the chairman of the local district court, the Minister, and the Head of the Food and Drug Control Agency.".

   The National Police is very strict in matters of the code of ethics and profession, and therefore every member's actions are emphasized to always comply with this guideline, in the latest police code of ethics regulations it is stated that each member must respect and obey the institutional code of ethics, namely norms that contain guidelines regarding the attitude and behavior of each Police official in carrying out duties, authorities, and responsibilities,  in institutional ethics includes points about loyalty to the institution, maintaining the image and honor of the National Police institution, respecting every duty and responsibility, and most importantly reporting criminal acts committed by Police civil servants both experiencing, seeing, and knowing directly to superiors, including not committing evil consensus, violations of the code of ethics, criminal acts, all of these things must be obeyed and will cause sanctions if violations occur by  member.

Understanding Undercover and Undercover Buy

   In drug cases investigated by the National Police, there are often actions where members must undercover and position themselves as buyers (undercover buy) to lure out of the city or drug dealers, of course, this is not without reason considering that drug circulation can be categorized as a structured crime. For some ordinary people, undercover carried out by the National Police can be misinterpreted that they are individuals who find fault, this must be straightened out that these activities have been regulated in Perkap No. 6 of 2019 and indeed the police are authorized to these activities, especially to meet the needs of investigation.

   While the undercover buying activity was part of an undercover, the police pretended to be buying drugs from the dealer, and then at the right time arrested the perpetrators. This covert purchase is a special technique in investigations involving drug crimes and narcotics precursors, in practice an undercover police officer acts as a buyer and conducts drug buying and selling transactions with the aim of arresting directly (catch hands) either direct dealers or couriers who can then connect investigators to larger suppliers.

   Why is this so important to adhere to and understand well? Because undercover buying can be used as a way to avoid legal entanglement, unscrupulous police officers who conduct drug transactions can argue that they are undercover to trap drug dealers, when in reality they are actually doing drug transactions by collaborating with perpetrators. Although in fact against this matter a decree or provision has been issued for the implementation of undercover buy as outlined in Pol.Juklap/04/VIII/1983, therefore the National Police urges each of its members to be based on existing rules and regulations.

CONCLUSION

Based on what has been described above, it can be seen that the National Police prioritizes the method of giving definite punishment, not selective logging, and serious eradication through investigations to every person who violates, as well as emphasis on rules so that they can be obeyed and obeyed, the decision for every suspect who violates the code of ethics should also be able to be given ethical sanctions in the form of demotion or dismissal without having to wait for the results of the trial,  because of course the National Police can conduct its own investigation to determine whether suspects violate the code of ethics and profession or not, besides that the author sees that drug cases have become increasingly dangerous, many factors influence it both in terms of social, environmental, trend, and easy access due to massive distribution, and because of this the author sees that there needs to be more mature cooperation by the National Police with BNN,  TNI (especially the Navy), and Customs, this is very important because one of the drug shipping routes is by sea, there are various ports called rat routes to smuggle illegal goods on this one, from the prevention side the author also sees that it is very necessary to synergize with the prison, lest those in prisons are actually able to introduce drugs at will,  because some of the cases revealed by the National Police actually came from inside prisons.

   The task of the National Police is getting tougher because they also have to eradicate the drug virus that exists within their own internals. In addition, the violations given to unscrupulous members are quite firm, that then there is no indiscriminate handling of every member who violates, all ranks and positions owned by unscrupulous members do not apply to the National Police, all will be removed and eradicated

   The case of Teddy Minahasa tarnished the good name of the National Police, damaged the image and honor of the institution for the community, but on the other hand this case proves that the National Police does not hesitate to each of its members who commit drug abuse, both from enlisted men, non-commissioned officers, and even high-ranking officers will be immediately eradicated and punished. For every member of the National Police who commits a criminal act, it must fulfill their criminal responsibility, so it can be understood that it is not only the trial of the code of ethics and profession that will be passed for the perpetrators of crimes, in fact they still have to follow criminal provisions like civilians in general.

   The efforts made by the National Police have indeed been steady and developed but of course this is not enough to be said to be maximal, in the future it is hoped that there will be a new innovation that is increasingly modern in screening member behavior and mapping of violators, so that it can be separated clearly, and early detection of individuals who violate the provisions of the code of ethics,  especially those who violate the criminal provisions, in order to regain public trust and maintain the spirit of law enforcement.

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