Two alleged drug makers nabbed<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Police arrested two men in Kelapa Gading, North
\nJakarta, over the weekend for alleged involvement in the
\nproduction of barbiturate-type Nipam pills.<\/p>\n
City Police Spokesman Lt. Col. E. Aritonang said Saturday the
\npolice also confiscated 15 large sacks of powder believed to be
\nthe main ingredient used to produce Nipam.<\/p>\n
\"The powder, weighing around 900 kilograms in total, could be
\nused to make up to six million Nipam pills,\" Aritonang said.<\/p>\n
The seized evidence could be considered the police's biggest
\ndrug haul, especially involving Nipam pills, since the campaign
\nagainst drugs was launched in March, when 2.05 million Nipam
\npills were seized and 21 people arrested in Taman Kota housing
\nestate in West Jakarta.<\/p>\n
Aritonang said that during the weekend raid, the police also
\nseized several machines to produce the pills by the two men,
\nidentified as EM, 32, and KS, 37.<\/p>\n
The police are still questioning the two men to obtain
\ndetailed information on their operations and their possible
\naccomplices.<\/p>\n
Both men are being held at the city police detention house.<\/p>\n
Aritonang said that both EM and KS were believed to have
\nstrong links with an alleged major drug dealer who was arrested
\nThursday.<\/p>\n
The alleged dealer, Peter Safri Wijono, 36, was arrested for
\nillegally having 3.75 million pills of various types of drugs,
\nincluding Nipam, Rohypnol, BK and Dumolid.<\/p>\n
Peter was one of the police's most wanted alleged drug
\ndistributors.<\/p>\n
He was arrested in his house, also located in Kelapa Gading.
\nAritonang refused to say whether Peter's house was located near
\nthe house in which EM and KS were arrested.<\/p>\n
He said the new ratified 1997 Psychotropic Law Number 5
\nimposed heavier punishment on anybody found guilty of being
\ninvolved in drugs, either as user, distributor, trader or
\nproducer.<\/p>\n
He said Peter had violated Article 60 of the 1997 Psychotropic
\nLaw on illegal production, distribution and sale of drugs.<\/p>\n
\"If found guilty, he could face a maximum 15-year imprisonment
\nand a fine of Rp 200 million (US$76,293),\" he said.<\/p>\n
EM and KS, as alleged drug producers, could also be charged
\nunder the same article, he said.<\/p>\n
The government banned the production, distribution and sale of
\nNipam, except for medical purposes, in the early 1980s.<\/p>\n
However, Nipam pills, as well as other cheap drugs like
\nRohypnol, BK and Dumolid, can easily be found at many roadside
\nmedicine shops in Senen and Tanah Abang markets in Central
\nJakarta and Blok A market in South Jakarta for around Rp 2,500
\n(US$1) for a strip of 10.<\/p>\n
Police said that the drugs' affordable prices had made them
\nvery popular, especially among students and lower-class drug
\nusers.<\/p>\n
Police also said that student brawls and other crimes had been
\nrelated to Nipam, as it stimulated a user's feeling of being
\ndauntless. Someone under the influence of Nipam could also become
\nviolent.<\/p>\n
The guilty parties of two high-profile crimes last year had
\ntaken Nipam: an intercity Kramatdjati bus driver who was
\nconvicted for reckless driving which led to the deaths of 31
\npeople, mostly his passengers, in March; and a man who raped a
\nfemale patient at Pelni hospital in December. (cst)<\/p>",
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