Uproar Over Confessed Drug Dealer's Claim of Police Protection: How Many Narcotics Cases Are in the Hands of the Indonesian National Police (Polri) and the National Narcotics Agency (BNN)?

A confession by detainees from the Makale National Narcotics Agency (BNNK) in Tana Toraja has caused a public uproar after claiming that their narcotics trafficking operation was protected by the police.

The statement was revealed by a methamphetamine trafficker during a press conference held by the BNNK, where he and three other suspects were present.

"I'll keep it brief, Ma'am. We dare to do this because we are protected from the bottom of the Police Department," one suspect told AKBP Dewi Tonglo, Head of the Tana Toraja BNNK, on Wednesday (15/2/2023).

This confession went viral after being uploaded to the Twitter account @Heraloebss. It has been viewed 5.9 million times, received 2,300 replies, and tens of thousands of retweets and likes.

Beyond this sensational confession, how many narcotics cases have actually been handled by the two authorized agencies, the Indonesian National Police (Polri) and the BNN?

Based on a report by the Financial Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre (PPATK), citing the journal on Prevention and Eradication of Narcotics Abuse and Trafficking (P4GN), from 2017-2021, case handling was dominated by the Polri.

A total of 223,522 cases were recorded during this period. 98% of the total, or 218,928 cases, were handled by the Polri. The remaining 4,594 cases, or 2%, were handled by the BNN.

The highest number of narcotics cases handled by the Polri occurred in 2017, with 50,547 cases. While fluctuating, the numbers consistently remained above 38,000 cases.

Meanwhile, the highest number of cases handled by the BNN occurred in 2018, with a total of 1,039 cases. Subsequently, the number of cases handled remained above 700.

"It is evident that the police handle significantly more narcotics cases than the BNN, given the greater number of police stations across the regions, resulting in wider geographical coverage of case handling," wrote the PPATK in its report, *Sectoral Risk Assessment of Money Laundering in Narcotics Crimes 2022*.

The following is a list of cases of all types of narcotics handled by the Polri and BNN:

* 2017
Polri: 50,474 cases
BNN: 990 cases
* 2018
Polri: 45,244 cases
BNN: 1,039 cases
* 2019
Polri: 39,805 cases
BNN: 951 cases
* 2020
Polri: 44,498 cases
BNN: 833 cases
* 2021
Polri: 38,907 cases
BNN: 781 cases

(Also read: BNN Records 1,307 Narcotics Suspects in Indonesia in 2020)