Suspected cannabis courier dies after chase in Mandailing Natal
In an early-morning chase on 20 August 2026, North Sumatra narcotics officers stopped two men on a motorcycle near Panyabungan with about 15.3 kg of dried cannabis; one suspect, identified as ZI, died from a gunshot wound after allegedly attacking officers with a blade, and his companion MAL was detained.
🇮🇩 Darussalam, Panyabungan Timur, Mandailing Natal · Indonesia
Officers from the Mandailing Natal branch of Indonesia’s National Narcotics Agency, building on a
surveillance operation in Padang Laru, followed a green Honda Stylo motorcycle with two riders in
black jackets shortly after 01:45 on 20 August 2026.[1][2]When the pair headed toward Panyabungan
with a large front bundle, officers tried to stop them.[1][2]
BNNP North Sumatra said both suspects resisted with edged weapons and tried to flee; officers used
what the agency called measured firm action after the situation endangered them.[1][2]Kumparan
reported two warning shots into the air before the suspects were secured.[2]
Around 02:40 the motorcycle crashed into a ditch on the road in Darussalam village, Panyabungan Timur.[1][2]Officers seized 16 packages of dried cannabis weighing 15,332.65 grams and detained two men
initialled MAL, 25, and ZI, 23.[1][2]
ZI weakened while being taken to the BNN district office and was moved to hospital, where staff found
a gunshot wound to the lower back; he was declared dead.[1][2]MAL remained in custody for further
legal process according to the September briefing.[1]
Case data
Every number and detail the sources state, with the sources that state it.
Panyabungan police stopped a motorcycle on 10 November 2026 and detained a 25-year-old Agam man with 25 bales of dried cannabis. A companion was reported to have fled, and no charge has been filed.
Jayapura prosecutors destroyed evidence from 41 final criminal cases on 10 November 2026, including 21 cannabis cases. The destroyed cannabis weighed 0.21 grams, alongside sabu and other criminal evidence.
Indonesia's narcotics agency destroyed more than four tons of ready-to-harvest cannabis on 2.5 hectares in the mountains of Desa Pulo Lamteba, Aceh Besar. Officers uprooted and burned the plants on site after a week-long investigation; no owner was found.
Rodrigo Ventocilla, 32, a Peruvian Harvard student on his honeymoon, was detained at Denpasar's airport on 6 August 2022 after customs found cannabis items including 231.65 grams of edibles, and died in police custody five days later. His family alleges mistreatment and extortion; Bali police say he died of organ failure after taking unseized narcotics.
