Police and soldiers destroy 150 hectares of cannabis in Mandailing Natal
North Sumatra police found 150 hectares of cannabis across 18 hillside sites near Laru Lombang using satellite imagery and drones, then destroyed the crop with soldiers on 11 November 2023. The find grew from the earlier arrest of three teenage couriers carrying 15 kg, allegedly on the orders of a prison inmate.
🇮🇩 Hills around Laru Lombang, Tambangan, Mandailing Natal · Indonesia
North Sumatra police chief Irjen Pol Agung Setya Imam Effendi led officers to 150 hectares of
cannabis spread over 18 sites in the hills of Laru Lombang village, Tambangan, on Saturday
11 November 2023.[1][2]The force found the fields with satellite imagery verified by drone
instead of foot patrols, then flew in by helicopter with the Kodam I/Bukit Barisan commander,
Mayjen TNI Mochammad Hasan, to lead the destruction.[1][2]
Officers walked six to ten hours to reach the hill and mountain sites, which police called the
largest cannabis field found by officers in the anti-narcotics war.[1][2]A joint TNI-Polri team
secured field owners and couriers carrying harvested cannabis for sale during the operation.[2]
Police said the case grew from the earlier arrest of three couriers from Padang, aged 16, 18 and
23, caught with 15 kg of cannabis on a road in East Panyabungan.[1]The three allegedly acted on
the orders of an inmate known as ZR alias Kijok in a Padang prison, who was then taken to North
Sumatra police for questioning.[1][2]Police said the Laru Lombang harvest was sold in Padang
under the inmate’s control.[2]
Photos and video
North Sumatra police chief Agung Setya Imam Effendi briefs reporters after the 150-hectare cannabis find in Mandailing Natal.Photo details
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.
Officers in Aceh uprooted thousands of cannabis plants to their roots and burned them on site to cut off the production source. The account gives no precise location, exact plant count, field area or suspects.
A joint Bareskrim, BNN and Lhokseumawe police team destroyed about 18 hectares of harvest-ready cannabis at Alue Garut, Teupin Ruseb, Sawang on 2 November 2026 by burning the plants. Three suspected field owners aged 32 to 42, identified only by initials, were arrested.
A joint Polri-BNN operation destroyed 122.86 hectares of cannabis fields across North Sumatra and Aceh between 27 October and 2 November 2026. Four people were detained in North Aceh, with three named as suspects facing up to 20 years' imprisonment.
Arrested 4Charged 3Plants destroyed 150,000Area 122.9 ha
