Indonesia steps up monitoring of Hong Kong flights after 'significant' rise in drug-trafficking cases

Indonesian authorities are stepping up monitoring of flights from Hong Kong and mainland China in the wake of what officials call a "significant" increase in the number of drug-trafficking cases originating from China.

Indonesia has long been plagued by organised crime syndicates from Hong Kong and mainland China who move the drug methamphetamine - also known as Ice - from factories in Guangdong, Indonesian police and the UN say.

However, a spike in the number of cases so far this year - including one last month in which a 17-year-old man from Hong Kong was arrested with several kilos of Ice - have prompted officials at the nation's airports to step up profiling of passengers from the greater China area. The Indonesian consulate in Hong Kong confirmed that would include flights from the city.

A spokesman said more than 20 drug smuggling cases so far this year had involved flights from Hong Kong.

"It is a lot. It is a significant increase," the spokesman said.

Passengers from Malaysia will also be subject to extra scrutiny given the country's role in the regional drugs trade, Indonesian officials said.

"Every passenger arriving on flights from Malaysia and China will be given special attention by customs officers because many passengers from there have so far been caught carrying narcotics," Okto Irianto, head of customs at Jakarta's international airport, told state news agency Antara.