Sutiyoso declares war on drug traffickers<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Jakarta Governor Sutiyoso declared a war against
\ndrug traffickers on Wednesday after disclosing that elementary
\nschool pupils were increasingly being targeted by drug pushers.<\/p>\n
Sutiyoso's tough words however may end up just that, amid
\nallegations that military and police personnel could be behind
\nsome of the country's major drug syndicates.<\/p>\n
\"Those in the drug ring should be punished. This nation could
\nbe destroyed by drugs if they start selling them to elementary
\nschool pupils,\" the retired Army general said in an emotional
\ntone of voice.<\/p>\n
He called on law enforcement agencies to administer tougher
\npunishments against drug traffickers.<\/p>\n
Although drug trafficking carries the death penalty, the
\nmaximum sentence is rarely imposed.<\/p>\n
Sutiyoso said he would summon education officials to clamp
\ndown against drug using students.<\/p>\n
The administration planned a massive TV campaign to warn young
\npeople of the dangers of drugs, he said, adding that he had yet
\nto solve the problem of funding the campaign.<\/p>\n
He said he expected parents and teachers to play their part in
\npreventing children and young people from falling into the drug
\ntrap.<\/p>\n
\"I'm very concerned. I always question my daughters
\nwhereabouts now because of this.\"<\/p>\n
The head of the city's education and teaching agency, Masrul
\nNim, said on Monday that at least 20 pupils of an elementary
\nschool in Tanah Abang, Central Jakarta, had been found to be
\nusing barbiturate pills.<\/p>\n
The children, aged between 10 and 12 years old, bought the
\npills from an unidentified woman.<\/p>\n
Masrul said some of the children were even paid Rp 5,000 by
\nthe woman to try the pills, which, according to the children, she
\nhad described as \"smart candies\".<\/p>\n
The same woman was believed to have operated at a junior high
\nschool in Cikini, Central Jakarta, said Masrul.<\/p>\n
'Backing'<\/p>\n
Separately, Minister of Justice\/ State Secretary Muladi, while
\ndeploring the sales of drugs to children, said he did not rule
\nout the possibility of military or police personnel being
\ninvolved, or of providing \"backing\" to drug syndicates.<\/p>\n
Commenting on the reported arrest of the son of Army Chief of
\nStaff Gen. Subagyo H.S. during a drug raid in a Jakarta hotel
\nthis month, Muladi said success in handling the drug problem
\nultimately depended on the attitude of the security apparatus.<\/p>\n
Muladi, speaking after meeting with a foundation dealing with
\ndrug and alcohol excesses, promised to bring the matter up in the
\nnext Cabinet meeting.<\/p>\n
Subagyo's son, Army Second Lt. Agus Isrok, was reportedly
\narrested in a hotel on Aug. 8.<\/p>\n
Police found Isrok and an accomplice with a bag containing
\n7,000 Ecstasy pills, four kilograms of shabu-shabu (crystal
\nmethamphetamine), marijuana, five grams of putauw (low-grade
\nheroin) and Rp 2 million (US$259).<\/p>\n
Police have denied the arrest of Subagyo's son, despite the
\nfact that the arrest report, which was leaked to the press,
\nstipulated the name and identity of the suspect.<\/p>\n
The matter was handed over to the Army, and Agus'
\nname had since been excised in subsequent police reports of the
\narrest.<\/p>\n
When confronted by reporters on Tuesday, Subagyo refused to
\nconfirm or deny the arrest, saying he did not wish to turn the
\nissue into a controversy. (jun)<\/p>",
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