Comedian Polo admits he is a drug user<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Comedian Barata Nugroho, alias Polo, confessed
\non Friday that he was carrying 0.5 grams of shabu-shabu (crystal
\nmethamphetamine) when police arrested him a day earlier at a
\nhotel on Jl. Matraman Raya in East Jakarta.<\/p>\n
However, the 38-year-old suspect insisted that he was not the
\nowner of the drugs, although he admitted that he had been
\nconsuming drugs since June.<\/p>\n
\"I found the drugs by accident at a hotel in Mangga Besar,
\nCentral Jakarta. As I was in a hurry to the East Jakarta hotel to
\nlook for room for my father-in-law and my mother-in-law, I forgot
\nto throw away the drugs,\" he told reporters at city police
\nheadquarters.<\/p>\n
The incident started as Polo, who is a member of top comedy
\ntroupe Srimulat, assisted a friend, named Bambang, to book a
\nhotel room in Mangga Besar.<\/p>\n
\"I have been with Bambang at the hotel since Wednesday as he
\nhas been suffering from a hernia,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Polo explained that when he first moved into the hotel room,
\nhe checked out a wardrobe and found a tin can with a small
\nquantity of shabu-shabu inside.<\/p>\n
\"I decided to keep the drugs,\" he said.<\/p>\n
He said that he was then called by his pregnant wife Anna
\nWidjaya on Thursday before dawn who told him that she was about
\nto go into labor.<\/p>\n
\"That confused me. I was forced to rush her to nearby Hermina
\nhospital in East Jakarta, and finally she delivered a baby boy at
\n6.45 a.m on Thursday,\" he said, his eyes glistening with tears.<\/p>\n
Polo claimed that he then rushed to the hotel on Jl. Matraman
\nRaya to book a hotel room for his wife's parents.<\/p>\n
\"As I was looking for a room at the hotel, police officers
\nwere already there and asked me whether I had any drugs on me.<\/p>\n
\"I said that I had drugs in my left pocket, and handed it over
\nto them. It's all my fault,\" he said, again with eyes glistening.<\/p>\n
The comedian explained that he consumed drugs as they helped
\nhim socialize with his fellow celebrities.<\/p>\n
\"I used to buy drugs from some people in discotheques here
\n(the Mangga Besar area),\" he said.<\/p>\n
City police spokesman Supt. Muhammad Nur Usman dismissed
\nallegations that the arrest was part of a police bid to \"entrap\"
\nartists with drug charges.<\/p>\n
\"It has no relation with the Doyok case. We had obtained
\ninformation that someone was carrying drugs, and, by coincidence,
\nit turned out to be Polo,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Sudharmaji, alias Doyok, who often starred with Polo in the
\nKetoprak Humor comedy show, was arrested recently for possession
\nof shabu-shabu. Like Polo, Doyok has also confessed that he was a
\ndrug user.<\/p>\n
Nur said the suspect has been charged under Article 62 of the
\n1997 Psychotropic Substances Law for being in possession of
\nshabu-shabu.<\/p>\n
The Article carries a maximum sentence of five years in jail.
\n(asa)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/comedian-polo-admits-he-is-a-drug-user-1447893297",
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