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🇮🇩 Indonesia /Crime & Justice

Indonesia and Malaysia agree to revoke drug traffickers’ passports to speed deportations

From CNN Indonesia · () Indonesian

Translated from Indonesian and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

News Official statement Approved/passed
  • Indonesia’s National Police and Malaysia’s Royal Police agreed to speed the deportation of drug crime suspects who flee to Malaysia.
  • The plan includes passport cancellation or revocation, which can make Indonesian nationals subject to deportation as illegal residents without relying on lengthy extradition proceedings.
  • The agencies also agreed to improve intelligence sharing, direct police-to-police coordination and joint monitoring around vulnerable border areas.

Indonesia and Malaysia have agreed on a faster route for sending suspected drug offenders back across the border, including by revoking their passports.

The agreement was signed during the 14th bilateral meeting between Indonesia’s National Police Criminal Investigation Agency and Malaysia’s Royal Police narcotics division in Malaysia from Sept. 2 to 4, 2026. The two sides discussed cross-border narcotics crime and ways to strengthen bilateral cooperation, said Brig. Gen. Eko Hadi Santoso, director of the Indonesian agency’s narcotics crimes division.

The two sides discussed various strategic issues related to tackling cross-border narcotics crime and efforts to strengthen bilateral cooperation.

· Brig. Gen. Eko Hadi SantosoThe Indonesian narcotics crimes director described the issues discussed at the bilateral meeting.

The arrangement focuses on suspects listed as wanted by Indonesian authorities who flee to Malaysia. Instead of relying on a lengthy and bureaucratic extradition process, authorities may cancel or revoke their passports through immigration services. For Indonesian citizens, Eko said, that could make their status “illegal stay,” allowing deportation or forced return to Indonesia to proceed more quickly.

So the status of the Indonesian citizen becomes illegal stay. With illegal status, the deportation or forced return to Indonesia process will be much easier and faster.

· Brig. Gen. Eko Hadi SantosoHe explained how passport revocation could facilitate deportations.

The agencies also said they would prioritize dismantling the upper levels of international drug networks, rather than focusing only on couriers. Eko called for stronger intelligence cooperation to track the movements of masterminds and major traffickers who have so far remained difficult to prosecute.

For Malaysian citizens facing legal cases in Indonesia, the countries agreed to use a direct police-to-police mechanism. They also plan tighter joint monitoring at vulnerable border points, including the Strait of Malacca and the Kalimantan-Sabah and Sarawak areas. “Coordination regarding Malaysian citizens facing legal problems in Indonesia will be conducted through the official police-to-police channel,” Eko said, calling the process faster and more effective.

Coordination regarding Malaysian citizens facing legal problems in Indonesia will be conducted through the official police-to-police channel because it is faster and more effective.

· Brig. Gen. Eko Hadi SantosoHe described the agreed mechanism for handling Malaysian citizens involved in Indonesian cases.
About this summary

Originally published by CNN Indonesia in Indonesian. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

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