Indonesia drug chief praises Duterte, calls for Philippine-style crackdown

Indonesia is known to have some of the toughest drug laws in the world.

Indonesia drug chief, Budi Waseso praised Philippines President Duterte and called for Philippine-style crackdown in the country. In a press conference held by Indonesia's anti-narcotics agency (BNN), the chief said the country would boost its arsenal of weapons, officers and technology devoted to combat the drugs trade.

"The life of a dealer is meaningless because [he] carries out mass murder," he told BBC.

When he was asked if Indonesia would be as aggressive as the Philippines, Waseso said: "Yes I believe so."

Reports say that Indonesia is known to have some of the toughest drug laws in the world. In 2013, it ended a four-year moratorium on executions.

However, a spokesman for the BNN, Slamet Pribadi said Indonesia would not be as aggressive as the Philippines

"Our punishments have to be in accordance with our law and with national and international standards," Pribadi said.

Nearly 2,400 people have already been killed in the campaign against illegal narcotics trade since Duterte came to the power in May.

But the police have claimed that around 900 of those people died in police operations while the rest were "deaths under investigation".

Duterte publicly identified 160 officials, police and judges in a name-and-shame campaign and warned them to surrender themselves or face the consequences.

Earlier this week, US President Barack Obama said that he would like to talk to Duterte about the issue. But his Philippine counterpart warned him and referred to him as a "son of a whore".

"You must be respectful. Do not just throw questions," Duterte said of Obama.

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