KABARDPR.COM, ACEH – Ismail Arif (33) from Aceh Tamiang, a victim of kidnapping and torture by a drug syndicate network in Malaysia, has finally been repatriated to Aceh.
The victim was repatriated through Kuala Namu Airport, North Sumatra, on Friday (4/10/2024) and then directly repatriated to Aceh Tamiang accompanied by the Liaison Staff of the Aceh DPD member, Haji Uma.
Based on information from Teuku Ricky, Chairman of the Aceh Diaspora Association of Malaysia (PPAM). After being kidnapped for about a week in the Shah Alam area, the victim managed to escape around Monday (23/9/2024) and then contacted his family in Aceh Tamiang.
Upon receiving this information, the victim’s family then contacted the Aceh DPD member, Haji Uma. Subsequently, Haji Uma coordinated with the PPAM team in an effort to protect the victim in Malaysia.
After surviving for two days in Shah Alam, the victim then, through coordination with the PPAM, was directed to the Chow Kit area, Kuala Lumpur, and was accommodated in the house of a PPAM team member who also helped provide food for the victim for 10 days there.
PPAM also assisted in the process of repatriating the victim to Aceh. The handling fee for the repatriation came from the victim’s family amounting to Rp 3,700,000 and from Haji Uma’s assistance amounting to Rp 2,000,000, as well as additional expenses for handling from PPAM.
In addition, Haji Uma also assisted with a fee of Rp 1,500,000 for the flight tickets of the victim’s brother who went to Malaysia to pick up the victim, as well as transportation costs for the victim and his brother from Kuala Namu Airport to Aceh Tamiang.
Upon arriving at the family’s residence in Kampung Lubuk Batil, Bendahara District, the victim, accompanied by Liaison Staff Haji Uma, was warmly welcomed by the family, relatives, and several waiting residents.
Meanwhile, the Aceh DPD member, H. Sudirman Haji Uma, in a statement to the media, expressed his gratitude for the victim’s release and thanked PPAM and others who had helped provide protection and arrange for the repatriation process.
Furthermore, Haji Uma will soon send a letter to the Indonesian National Police Headquarters to further investigate the case. This step was taken after Haji Uma coordinated with elements from the Aceh Regional Police.
According to him, based on information from the victim’s family, there is an allegation that this drug syndicate network is controlled by an Acehnese with the initial Z who is currently in custody at Tanjung Gusta Prison, North Sumatra.
“We will immediately write to the Indonesian National Police Headquarters, and we hope that this case will be further investigated. Moreover, according to the family, there is an allegation that one of the drug network controllers is currently detained in Tanjung Gusta Prison, North Sumatra,” said Haji Uma.
In conclusion, Haji Uma also hopes that other relevant parties, particularly the Migrant Worker Protection Agency (BP2MI), can advocate for the protection of the victim’s safety. This is because there is a high possibility that this network is still targeting victims in Aceh.
As previously known, Ismail Arief (33), a worker from Aceh Tamiang, became a victim of kidnapping by a drug syndicate network in Malaysia. This was because the victim was used as collateral in the process of methamphetamine transactions by his fellow villagers.
At that time, the victim was supposed to return to Aceh, but because the money transferred by his family in Aceh failed, the victim then met his fellow villager named Ridwan alias Bogam. Subsequently, the victim was advised to return with a barge that would head to East Aceh.
However, unfortunately, instead of successfully returning to Aceh, the victim was used as collateral for drug transactions and then became a hostage of the drug network in Malaysia. To the victim’s family, the captors requested that Bogam and a man with the initial Z who is currently detained in the prison return their money so that the victim can be released.
In response to this incident, the family and officials of Kampung Lubuk Batil wrote to the Aceh DPD member, H. Sudirman Haji Uma, to help release the victim and repatriate him to Aceh.