Garut, West Java, July 9 -- The National Narcotics Agency (BNN) on Wednesday reported that the number of drug addicts in Indonesia has now reached 3.3 million.

"As many as 3.3 million Indonesians are trapped in drug addiction. This is not only about numbers but a potential that crime syndicates take advantage of," BNN head Marthinus Hukom said in Garut, West Java.

The economic cost of drug smuggling has reached Rp500 trillion (approximately US$30.7 billion) in Indonesia, he informed.

The figure, he said, includes the costs borne by the state for handling drug inmates, whose number has crossed 200 thousand.

"As many as 52 percent of our prison inmates are drug abusers," he pointed out.

Hukom further revealed that around 90 percent of ...