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Indonesia eradication campaigns (2026)

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Revision as of 15:34, 3 May 2026 by Eloise Zomia (talk | contribs)
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Indonesia eradication campaigns (2026) covers cannabis eradication reporting from Indonesia during 2026. Two operations account for most of the documented hectarage so far: the Polda Sumatera Selatan and Polres Empat Lawang takedown of the Batu Jungul cultivation network in Empat Lawang, South Sumatra (20 hectares destroyed in April 2026, following a 3-hectare February operation on the same site),[1] and the Polda Aceh discovery of approximately 20 hectares at Lampanah in Aceh Besar, with 3 hectares destroyed on 29 April 2026 under Operasi Antik Seulawah 2026.[2] Cannabis is regulated under Law 35/2009 on Narcotics; cultivation under Article 111 carries 4 to 12 years imprisonment with fines up to 8 billion rupiah. Reporting concentrates in the Bukit Barisan uplands of Sumatra,citation needed with major centres in Aceh (Polda Aceh's Operasi Antik Seulawah 2026), South Sumatra (the Polda Sumsel investigation centred on the Empat Lawang Batu Jungul network) and North Sumatra (regency-level operations in Karo and Serdang Bedagai alongside continued reporting on Mandailing Natal as a trafficking origin). A first 2026 cultivation case from outside Sumatra was reported in April 2026 from Pegunungan Bintang in Highland Papua, by the Damai Cartenz Operation Task Force.[3]

Background

Cannabis eradication in Indonesia is run by two principal agencies: BNN (Badan Narkotika Nasional) and Polri, the national police, which operates through the Bareskrim criminal investigation directorate, provincial Polda commands, regency Polres commands and subdistrict Polsek posts, plus the paramilitary Brimob. Eradication burns routinely include the Indonesian Armed Forces (TNI), regional government, the prosecutor's office (Kejaksaan), customs (Bea Cukai) and the forestry and agricultural services, partly as procedural compliance with Article 92 of Law 35/2009 (which prescribes the formal destruction process) and partly as a public signal of multi-agency cohesion.

Aerial surveillance. Since 2023, BNN has run a partnership with the Badan Riset dan Inovasi Nasional (BRIN) and the Badan Informasi Geospasial (BIG) using unmanned aerial vehicles (Pesawat Terbang Tanpa Awak, PTTA) to identify cultivation sites. The partnership underlies a sequence of BNN operations at Desa Pulo, Seulimum, in Aceh Besar (1 hectare destroyed in October 2023; further operations in early 2025 and again in September 2025) and at related Aceh Besar sites including Maheng in Kuta Cot Glie (early 2025, 2 hectares).[4][5][6]

Continuity from late 2025. Two 2025 operations underlie the geographic priorities of 2026 reporting. A Bareskrim Polri operation in Gayo Lues, Aceh in November 2025 documented 51.75 hectares across 26 plots inside Gunung Leuser National Park, spanning the kecamatan of Blangkejeren, Putri Betung and Pining;[7] Brimob Battalion C Pelopor of Polda Sumut destroyed approximately 10 hectares at Tor Sihite in Mandailing Natal on 12 November 2025.[8]

Named programmes.

  • Operasi Antik Seulawah 2026 (Polda Aceh): Polda Aceh's standing 2026 cannabis eradication operation, named for the Seulawah volcano in Aceh Besar. Underlies the Lampanah operation of 29 April 2026.[2]
  • Empat Lawang Batu Jungul investigation (Polda Sumatera Selatan, Direktorat Reserse Narkoba): an unnamed single-network investigation begun February 2026, which closed on 24 April 2026 with the destruction of 20 hectares at Desa Batu Jungul and the arrest of network organiser PD alias Pinhar at a Palembang bus terminal.[1]
  • Operasi Damai Cartenz 2026 (Polri-TNI joint task force, Papua): a counterinsurgency operation primarily oriented to operations against the TPNPB, with subsidiary narcotics enforcement responsibilities. Discovered cannabis at Yunabol and Siminbuk villages in Pegunungan Bintang in April 2026.[3]
  • Grand Design Alternative Development (GDAD) (BNN): a livelihood-transition programme running pilots in Aceh Besar, Aceh Utara, Bireuen and Gayo Lues, focused on agricultural skills training to support transitions to coffee, vegetables and other commercial crops.[4]

Map

Eradication locations

Regional summaries

Sumatra — Aceh

Aceh is the most consistently reported cannabis cultivation region in Indonesia. 2026 reporting includes three documented events: the late-April Lampanah eradication, a February trafficking interdiction in Bireuen, and the operational frame of Polda Aceh's Operasi Antik Seulawah 2026.

The 29 April 2026 Lampanah operation, in kecamatan Seulimum of Aceh Besar, destroyed three hectares of cultivation. Polda Aceh director Inspektur Jenderal Marzuki Ali Basyah reported a wider 20-hectare discovery across multiple sites in the area, with an estimated harvest yield of 50 tons; the destruction at Lampanah covered 3 of those 20 hectares. The publicly available record does not address the status of the remaining 17 hectares.[2] Marzuki presented the destruction as a long-term cultural shift initiative, with locally recruited petani muda milenial ("young millennial farmers") visibly involved in the burning as community-facing agents of change.[9] Whether the Lampanah site is part of the same recurring cultivation cluster that BNN has destroyed at Desa Pulo in Seulimum since 2021 is not addressed in current reporting.citation needed

A separate Polda Aceh trafficking interdiction on 15 February 2026 stopped a Toyota Avanza in Kuta Blang, Bireuen regency, recovering approximately 50 kilograms of cannabis. The driver, a 58-year-old farmer from Central Aceh identified as AW, said the consignment originated in Beutong Ateuh in Nagan Raya regency on the western Aceh coast and was bound for a contact in Geudong in Aceh Utara. The receiving contact escaped before police arrived. Marzuki cited the operation as part of his standing direction to clear cannabis trafficking from the province.[10] Beutong Ateuh appears in 2026 reporting only through this interdiction and is geographically distinct from the Aceh Besar cultivation cluster targeted by Operasi Antik Seulawah.

Sumatra — North Sumatra

North Sumatra reporting in 2026 includes two small-scale cultivation operations and surfaces Mandailing Natal as a continuing trafficking origin point. The largest 2025-2026 Sumut cultivation operation was the November 2025 Brimob Tor Sihite raid covered in the Background section.

A 6 January 2026 Polres Serdang Bedagai operation in Dusun II of Desa Kerapuh, kecamatan Dolok Masihul, destroyed two cannabis plants of around two metres in height growing at the back of a residence, with three men in custody. The site is on the coastal lowland, geographically distinct from the upland zones documented elsewhere in Sumut.[11] An 8 April 2026 Polres Karo operation in Desa Kutarayat, kecamatan Naman Teran, on the slopes of Mount Sinabung, recovered 75 plants of varied size (35 to 150 cm) hidden among stacked timber inside a protected forest, with four men in custody.[12] Both are an order of magnitude smaller than the November 2025 Tor Sihite raid and considerably smaller than the South Sumatra Empat Lawang operations of the same year.

Two trafficking interdictions in late April 2026 named Mandailing Natal as the source: a 26 April 2026 Polda Sumut seizure of 151 kilograms of cannabis from a driver on the Siantar-to-Parapat highway, with the driver naming Mandailing Natal as the source and admitting two prior consignments,[13] and a 30 April 2026 Polres Tapanuli Selatan operation in kecamatan Angkola Muara Tais arresting two couriers transporting 3 kg of cannabis by motorcycle taxi from kecamatan Panyabungan in Mandailing Natal regency.[14]

Sumatra — South Sumatra

South Sumatra reporting in 2026 is dominated by a single sustained investigation: Polda Sumatera Selatan and Polres Empat Lawang's takedown of the Batu Jungul cultivation network in Empat Lawang regency. The investigation produced two operations against the same site, ten weeks apart. Combined hectarage destroyed reached 23 hectares, with 420 kilograms of processed material seized. The Empat Lawang Batu Jungul investigation is the largest documented Indonesian eradication action of 2026 by hectarage destroyed.citation needed

The first enforcement contact came on 13 February 2026, when Polres Empat Lawang acted on a community tip-off and destroyed three hectares of cannabis at Desa Batu Jungul in kecamatan Muara Pinang, seizing approximately 200 kilograms of harvest-ready material in eight sacks. The standing crop was burned in place. The operation drew armed resistance from approximately 50 community members; two field guards detained at the site (RD, 22, male and A, 18, female) were forcibly released after armed locals burned the holding hut.[15] Officers later arrested Feriyadi (43) on 20 February at Tanjung Makmur in kecamatan Tebing Tinggi as the alleged organiser of the resistance, identified as a relative of the released field guards.[16] Comparable resistance has not been reported in Aceh, where Polda Aceh has presented eradication as community-supported via the petani muda milenial initiative.citation needed

The investigation continued through February and into April 2026. On 24 April 2026 a joint Polda Sumsel and Polres Empat Lawang operation returned to Batu Jungul and destroyed 20 hectares of cultivation across the broader site. Officers seized 220 kilograms of dried, packaged cannabis in 11 sacks, plus four motorcycles, land ownership documents and field maps. The network organiser PD alias Pinhar was arrested at a bus terminal on Jalan Gubernur H. Bastari in Palembang before the field operation. Polda Sumsel narcotics director Kombes Pol Yulian Perdana said the network had operated since 2024, distributing cannabis from Empat Lawang to Palembang and on to Java; four further suspects remain on the wanted list.[1][17]

Highland Papua — Pegunungan Bintang

A two-day patrol on 10 to 11 April 2026 by 29 personnel of the Damai Cartenz Operation Task Force, the Pegunungan Bintang Sub-regional Police and the 751/VJS Infantry Battalion located cannabis in two locations in Pegunungan Bintang regency: 81 plants at Yunabol village in Oksibil district and 145 plants at Siminbuk village in Serambakon district, totalling 226 plants. Two men in custody as witnesses returned negative urine tests and have not been named as suspects.[3] This is the first cannabis cultivation case from Highland Papua in the wiki record. Damai Cartenz is a counterinsurgency operation primarily oriented to operations against the TPNPB, with subsidiary narcotics enforcement responsibilities. Whether the find represents an isolated incident or a previously undocumented Papua cultivation pattern cannot be settled from current reporting.

Timeline

No events logged yet.

Agencies

Polri (Indonesian National Police)
Primary agency in 2026 cultivation eradication and trafficking interdiction across all reported regions. Sub-units include Bareskrim Polri's Direktorat Tindak Pidana Narkoba (which led the November 2025 Gayo Lues operation), provincial commands Polda Aceh (under Inspektur Jenderal Marzuki Ali Basyah), Polda Sumatera Selatan (Direktur Reserse Narkoba Kombes Pol Yulian Perdana) and Polda Sumut, regency commands Polres Empat Lawang (under AKBP Abdul Aziz Septiadi), Polres Karo, Polres Serdang Bedagai, Polres Tapanuli Selatan and Polres Pegunungan Bintang, the Brimob Battalion C Pelopor of Polda Sumut (under Kompol Zaenal Muhlisin), and the subdistrict-level Polsek where cases are processed.
BNN (Badan Narkotika Nasional)
Co-lead agency, operating nationally and through provincial offices (BNNP). Historically the lead agency in Aceh Besar; Polda Aceh has increasingly run its own surveillance-led campaigns alongside BNN. BNN runs the Grand Design Alternative Development (GDAD) soft-power programme.
TNI (Indonesian Armed Forces)
Routine joint participant, particularly in Aceh and Papua. Specific units recorded in 2026 include the 751/VJS Infantry Battalion (Pegunungan Bintang) and Kodim regional military commands.
Damai Cartenz Operation Task Force
Joint Polri-TNI counterinsurgency operation in Papua. Operational lead in the April 2026 Pegunungan Bintang case under public relations head Senior Superintendent Yusuf Sutejo.
Joint participants
Eradication burns typically also include representatives of regional government, the prosecutor's office (Kejaksaan), customs (Bea Cukai), the forestry service (Dinas Kehutanan), the agricultural service (Dinas Pertanian) and the Bhayangkari police family welfare association.

See also

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 "Ladang Ganja 20 Hektar di Sumsel Dibongkar, 220 Kg Siap Edar Disita", Viva, 27 April 2026.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 "Aceh Police Discover 20-Hectare Marijuana Plantation", Tempo, 30 April 2026.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 "Joint Security Team Found Marijuana Plantation in Bintang Mountains", Indonesian National Police, 13 April 2026.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 "BNN RI Musnahkan Ladang Ganja Di Ketinggian 1.300 MDPL", BNN, October 2023.
  5. ↑ "Operasi Pertama Di Tahun 2025, BNN Musnahkan 12 Ton Ganja Di Aceh Besar", BNN, April 2025.
  6. ↑ "BNN RI Musnahkan 2 Hektare Lahan Ganja Di Aceh Besar", BNN, September 2025.
  7. ↑ "4 Fakta Ladang Ganja 51,75 Hektare di Aceh Dibongkar Bareskrim", detikNews, 20 November 2025.
  8. ↑ "Satuan Brimob Polda Sumut Musnahkan 10 Hektar Ladang Ganja di Perbukitan Mandailing Natal", Sentralberita, 13 November 2025.
  9. ↑ "Musnahkan Ladang Ganja Seluas 3 Hektare di Aceh Besar dalam Operasi Antik Seulawah 2026", FBI News, April 2026.
  10. ↑ "Petani di Aceh Ditangkap Polisi saat Bawa 4 Karung Ganja", detikSumut, 20 February 2026.
  11. ↑ "Tanam Pohon Ganja di Belakang Rumah, Warga Sergai Ditangkap Polisi", detikSumut, 8 January 2026.
  12. ↑ "Polisi Temukan Kebun Ganja di Kawasan Hutan Lindung Karo, 4 Orang Ditangkap", detikNews, 18 April 2026.
  13. ↑ "Polda Sumut Berhasil Gagalkan Peredaran 72 Kg Sabu dan 151 Kg Ganja", Swara Hati Rakyat, April 2026.
  14. ↑ "Gunakan Becak Motor untuk Kelabui Polisi, Kurir 3 Kg Ganja Ditangkap Polres Tapsel", Info Tabagsel, 2 May 2026.
  15. ↑ "Polisi Temukan 3 Hektare Ladang Ganja di Empat Lawang, 8 Karung Siap Edar", detikSumbagsel, 14 February 2026.
  16. ↑ "Provokator Halangi Polisi Gerebek Ladang Ganja di Empat Lawang Ditangkap", detikSumbagsel, 20 February 2026.
  17. ↑ "Polda Sumsel Musnahkan 20 Hektar Ladang Ganja di Empat Lawang", Beranda Indonesia, 26 April 2026.
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