Indonesia to Build Crocodile-Guarded Prison Island for Drug Convicts

 

According to AFP, the proposal is the pet project of anti-drugs chief, Budi Waseso, who plans to visit various parts of the archipelago in his search for fierce reptiles to guard the jail.

Local news website Tempo quoted Waseso as saying: “We will place as many crocodiles as we can there. I will search for the most ferocious type of crocodile.”

Waseso said that crocodiles would be better at preventing drug traffickers from escaping prison as they could not be bribed — unlike human guards.

“You can’t bribe crocodiles. You can’t convince them to let inmates escape,” Waseso said.

The plan is still in the early stages, and neither the location or potential opening date of the jail have been decided.

Indonesia already has some of the toughest anti-narcotics laws in the world, including death by firing squad for traffickers, and sparked international uproar in April when it put to death seven foreign drug convicts.

However, President Joko Widodo has insisted that drug dealers must face death as the country is fighting a “national emergency” due to rising narcotics use.

He said only traffickers would be kept in the jail, to stop them from mixing with other prisoners and potentially recruiting them to drug gangs. He added that the agency is currently in discussions with the justice ministry about the plan.