Northern Sumatra
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| Northern Sumatra | |
|---|---|
| ActiveCannabis last recorded here in 2026 | |
| |
| The shore of Lake Toba from the air | |
| Location | |
| Coordinates | 3.60, 97.40 |
| Country | Indonesia |
| Provinces/States | Aceh,North Sumatra |
| Elevation | 172–1,300 m |
| Growing history | |
| Dated news reports | 2020–2026 |
| Conservation | |
| Populations | none documented yet |
Northern Sumatra is a landrace cannabis growing region in the uplands of the northern half of Sumatra, Indonesia. It takes in the province of Aceh and the highlands of North Sumatra, along the Bukit Barisan range. Growing areas within it include Seulimeum in Aceh Besar, Gayo Lues in the Leuser uplands of southern Aceh, Beutong Ateuh in Nagan Raya, Tor Sihite in Mandailing Natal and the Karo Plateau in Karo.
The national narcotics agency, the police and the army have destroyed cannabis repeatedly across the region since 2018. Reported field elevations run from 172 metres at Mesalee in Aceh Besar to 1,300 metres at Desa Pulo in Seulimeum.[1][2][3]
Geography
The region follows the Bukit Barisan uplands between the Malacca Strait coastal plain and the Indian Ocean coast. Cultivation has been found in three upland blocks.
In Aceh Besar, inland from Banda Aceh, fields have been destroyed in the kecamatan of Seulimeum, Kuta Cot Glie, Indrapuri and Masjid Raya. Their reported elevations run from 172 metres at Mesalee and 224 metres at Maheng to 1,300 metres at Desa Pulo, which a later operation gave at 700 metres.[1][2][4] Further east, a joint operation in August 2026 destroyed about four hectares at nine points in Sawang, North Aceh.[5]
In southern Aceh the Gayo Lues fields lie inside the protected forest of Gunung Leuser National Park, across the kecamatan of Blangkejeren, Putri Betung and Pining.[6]
In North Sumatra cannabis has been found at about 950 to 1,145 metres in the Tor Sihite hills of Mandailing Natal, in the south of the province.[3][7]
Growing Areas
Cultivation
The plots are dispersed, on upland forest and forest-edge land. Single finds run from under a hectare to about 150 hectares, at 18 points in the Tor Sihite hills in November 2023; another, in Gayo Lues in November 2025, covered 51.75 hectares across 26 sites.[6][8] Plants stood about 50 centimetres apart at Desa Pulo in 2023, 40 to 60 centimetres apart at Lampanah in 2024 and about one metre apart at Maheng in 2025.[2][9][1]
Satellite imagery located the Tor Sihite plots of 2018 and 2023.[3][8] From 2023 the national narcotics agency located Aceh Besar fields by unmanned aircraft, in partnership with the national research and innovation agency and the geospatial information agency, and followed the imagery with ground investigation.[2][1] The routes to the fields are long: about five kilometres on foot to Desa Pulo in September 2026 and about ten hours on foot to the Pining plots in Gayo Lues the same month.[10][11]
Plants
Laboratory surveys of seized Acehnese material in 2019 and 2025 found Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol to be the dominant cannabinoid in every sample.[12][13] Plants at destruction stood between 20 and 350 centimetres at Desa Pulo in 2023 and between 30 and 210 centimetres at Lampanah in 2024.[2][9]
Conservation status
The only preserved cannabis specimen from Sumatra in the Global Biodiversity Information Facility is Lörzing 6821 (1919), collected on the Karo plateau of North Sumatra in 1919.[14]
Accessions
No accessions documented yet.
See also
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 "Operasi Pertama Di Tahun 2025, BNN Musnahkan 12 Ton Ganja Di Aceh Besar". BNN (in Bahasa Indonesia). Badan Narkotika Nasional. 24 April 2025. Retrieved 14 September 2026.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 "BNN RI Musnahkan Ladang Ganja Di Ketinggian 1.300 MDPL". BNN (in Bahasa Indonesia). Badan Narkotika Nasional. 2 October 2023. Retrieved 14 September 2026.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 "BNN musnahkan ladang ganja di Pengunungan Tor Sihite - Sumatera Utara". BNN (in Bahasa Indonesia). Badan Narkotika Nasional. 30 August 2018. Retrieved 15 September 2026.
- ↑ "BNN RI Musnahkan 2 Hektare Lahan Ganja di Aceh Besar". BNN (in Bahasa Indonesia). Badan Narkotika Nasional. 11 September 2025. Retrieved 14 September 2026.
- ↑ "Polres Lhokseumawe Musnahkan Ladang Ganja di 9 Lokasi Dalam Wilayah Sawang Aceh Utara". Serambinews (in Bahasa Indonesia). 14 August 2026. Retrieved 14 September 2026.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 "4 Fakta Ladang Ganja 51,75 Hektare di Aceh Dibongkar Bareskrim". detikNews (in Bahasa Indonesia). 20 November 2025. Retrieved 8 August 2026.
- ↑ "Ada 3 Hektare Ladang Ganja di Ketinggian 950 MDPL Perbukitan Tor Sihite". detikSumbagsel (in Bahasa Indonesia). 30 July 2025. Retrieved 8 August 2026.
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 "Perburuan ratusan hektare ladang ganja di Madina gunakan teknologi citra satelit". Antara News Sumatera Utara (in Bahasa Indonesia). Antara. 13 November 2023. Retrieved 8 August 2026.
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 "BNN musnahkan 10 ribu batang ganja di Aceh". Antara News Aceh (in Bahasa Indonesia). Antara. 15 August 2024. Retrieved 12 October 2026.
- ↑ Gani, Muliadi (16 September 2026). "Polres Aceh Besar Musnahkan 3.500 Batang Ganja di Perbukitan Seulimeum Seluas 1 Hektare". Prohaba (in Bahasa Indonesia). Retrieved 11 October 2026.
- ↑ Hasyim, Ansari (21 September 2026). "Polisi Temumukan 26,5 Hektare Ladang Ganja di Pegunungan Pining, 180 Kg Ganja Kering Diamankan". Serambinews (in Bahasa Indonesia). Retrieved 11 October 2026.
- ↑ Siahaan, U.; Marpaung, H.; Tamrin (2019). "Analysis of Ganja Chemical Content (Cannabis Sativa L.) Discussion Results in the Aceh Regional Police Region Using the GC-MS Method". International Journal on Recent and Innovation Trends in Computing and Communication. 7 (2): 40–45. doi:10.17762/ijritcc.v7i2.5231.
- ↑ Supiyani; Salsabil, S.; Mumtazah, A.; Syakira, A. (2025). "Profiling of various dry Cannabis sativa from Aceh, Indonesia, based on cannabinoids spectroscopy characteristics". Egyptian Journal of Forensic Sciences. 15 (1). doi:10.1186/s41935-025-00480-y.
- ↑ "Occurrence search: Cannabis sativa, Indonesia". GBIF. Global Biodiversity Information Facility. Retrieved 14 September 2026.