Indonesia's narcotics chief wants crocodiles to guard drug offenders

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A 4.5 meter (13.5 foot) saltwater crocodile.

Image: Rob Griffith/Associated Press

By Megan Specia2015-11-09 22:52:01 UTC

The head of Indonesia's drug law enforcement agency is recruiting crocodiles to guard a proposed island prison for drug offenders.

National Narcotics Agency Chief General Budi Waseso wants to surround the island with "as many crocodiles as we can," according to the Jakarta Post.

The country's Justice Ministry has yet to approve the strange proposal, but that hasn't stopped Waseso from pursuing the project.

On Monday, he took a look at some crocodiles at a breeding center in Medan, North Sumatra, to see if he could find any reptiles suitable for the job.

"I will search for the most ferocious type of crocodile," said Waseso, who asserted that they would be reliable guards because "you can't bribe crocodiles. You can't convince them to let inmates escape."

He also plans to travel to Papua and Sulawesi to "see which crocodiles are fiercer."

Indonesia's drug laws are notoriously harsh, with drug traffickers facing the death penalty if caught. Drug addiction is criminalized. Two Australian drug smugglers were executed in Indonesia earlier this year by firing squad.

The crocodiles are just one suggestion Waseso has for the brutal punishment of drug offenders. He has repeatedly said that he believes drug dealers should be forced to consume all of their confiscated merchandise, forcing themselves to overdose.

"Let them overdose by their own drugs," he said, adding that the narcotics agency was looking for ways to implement the punishment as a form of execution.

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Topics: crocodiles, Indonesia, narcotics, World
Source: Indonesia's narcotics chief wants crocodiles to guard drug offenders