53,000 cannabis plants burned after 10-hour march in Gayo Lues
From 17 to 20 September 2026 Gayo Lues police destroyed about 53,000 cannabis plants across roughly 26.5 hectares in mountains near Ekan and Pepelah villages, Pining, after a foot march of about ten hours. Officers also burned most of the crop on site, kept ten plants as evidence and seized about 180 kg of dried cannabis; no one was arrested.
🇮🇩 Ekan and Pepelah, Pining, Gayo Lues · Indonesia
- Plants destroyed
- 53,000
- Hectares
- 26.5
- Cannabis
- 180 kg
From Thursday 17 September through Sunday 20 September 2026 a Gayo Lues police
team destroyed about 53,000 cannabis plants spread over roughly 26.5 hectares
in mountains between Ekan and Pepelah villages, Pining subdistrict, Aceh’s Gayo
Lues regency, during Operasi Antik Seulawah 2026.[1][2]
News of Aceh and Liputan 1 reported that Gayo Lues police chief Cakra Donya
led the group, which left Ekan at 08:00 on 17 September and walked about ten
hours through steep forest to reach the mapped plots.[1][2] Over the following
days officers burned the standing crop on the spot, found huts and three presses
they believed were used to pack cannabis, and seized about 180 kilograms of dried
cannabis in three stashes.[1][2]
Police kept ten plants as evidence at district headquarters and burned the rest.[2] No arrests were reported.[1][2]
Metropolis.id published a police photograph of dried cannabis from the site.[1]
Sources
- Operasi Antik Seulawah 2026: Polres Gayo Lues Musnahkan 53 Ribu Batang Ganja Seluas 26,5 Hektare. News of Aceh, 22 September 2026. In Indonesian.
- Polres Gayo Lues Musnahkan 53 Ribu Batang Ganja di Pegunungan Pining. Liputan 1, 21 September 2026. In Indonesian.
Open questions the AI reported
- The plant count and area are police estimates from a multi-day sweep; neither outlet gives a precise survey map.
- Officers found huts, food stores and three cannabis presses in the hills; no cultivator was named or arrested.
- Ten live plants were taken to Gayo Lues police headquarters as evidence while the rest were burned.
- Liputan 1 says the team finished on the fourth day; News of Aceh describes a three-day field phase after the march.
- The map marks Ekan village; the plots lay on foot-only mountain paths from there toward Pepelah.
