JAKARTA: Convicted pushers, including some known for running drug rings from behind bars, were transferred to a maximum security prison on an island in Central Java recently.
The 228 dealers, from here, Yogyakarta and West Java, were transferred to the Nusakambangan Island prison facility, in four phases from July 5, by the Law and Human Rights Ministry, according to The Jakarta Post.
Reynhard Silitonga, the ministry's corrections director-general, said of the total number of convicts, 75 were from the capital city here, 22 from Yogyakarta and 90 from West Java.
He said once inside the maximum security facility, the convicts were assigned to individual cells.
"This is part of our commitment to eradicating narcotics from Indonesia.
"Hopefully, the prisoner transfer will help reduce drug circulation in the country."
The move follows the recent discovery of drug rings controlled behind bars by imprisoned drug dealers and is part of an effort to solve the problem of prisons operating beyond their capacity.
Reynhard said that wardens found to be involved in drug deals would be convicted and transferred to the infamous prison island as well.
Built by the Dutch colonial administration in 1908 to hold political prisoners, the Nusakambangan prison island now includes seven correctional fac-ilities with a total capacity of 1,606 inmates.
The island can be reached by a 1km ferry crossing from the Wijaya Pura Port in Cilacap, Central Java.