Police raid ecstasy factory in West Jakarta<\/p>\n
Evi Mariani, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
The Jakarta Police said on Monday they had discovered and raided
\nan ecstasy and shabu-shabu (crystal methamphetamine) factory
\nhidden in a two-story shop-house on Jl. Bedugul, Blok IA, in
\nCengkareng, West Jakarta.<\/p>\n
City police chief Insp. Gen. Firman Gani said two men were
\narrested at the factory and 82,570 ecstasy pills were confiscated
\nduring the raid on Friday.<\/p>\n
The number of pills confiscated is believed to be
\nunprecedented in terms of evidence collected during a single drug
\nraid.<\/p>\n
The police also seized chemicals used to make ecstasy and
\nshabu-shabu, including precursor, magnesium stearate,
\nhydrochloric acid, caustic soda, acetone and methanol, as well as
\nlab equipment like distillation equipment, pill press and scales.<\/p>\n
The police believe the factory, which has an estimated
\nproduction volume of 10,000 pills daily, was run by a large drug
\nsyndicate.<\/p>\n
An ecstasy pill sells for Rp 50,000 (US$5.53) to Rp 120,000 on
\nthe streets, depending on the quality and availability.<\/p>\n
The police launched a raid on Friday at about 3 p.m. on the
\nfactory, which was within a shop-house complex operated by Sastra
\nWijaya, 45, and Yuda, alias Akang, 33.<\/p>\n
The police found 74,570 pills in the factory and another 7,500
\nat Sastra's house in Pademangan, North Jakarta.<\/p>\n
Firman said the police were now looking for the factory owner,
\nidentified as BT. Police suspect that BT is related to Ang Kim
\nSoei, the owner of an ecstasy factory in Cipondoh, Tangerang, who
\nwas arrested in April 2002.<\/p>\n
BT was arrested in 1999 for possession of ecstasy but he was
\nonly sentenced to four months, which police said was inadequate.<\/p>\n
Ang was sentenced to death by the Tangerang District Court for
\noperating the factory, which had a production volume of about
\n150,000 pills per day. However, the police seized only 8,400
\necstasy pills from Ang's factory.<\/p>\n
Ang has filed an appeal with the Tangerang High Court.<\/p>\n
The first single largest ecstasy cache was seized in 1996,
\nwhen the city police arrested "Queen of Ecstasy" Zarima Mirafsur
\nwith 29,677 ecstasy pills.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/police-raid-ecstasy-factory-in-west-jakarta-1447893297",
"image": ""
},
"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
}