Upside-down tactics<\/p>\n
Over five decades of independence for Indonesia has meant not
\nonly freedom from foreign colonialism, but also ample time to
\nlearn how to confront Herculean problems and complications
\nwithout losing our heads.<\/p>\n
Besides facing a devastating economic crisis, the threat of
\nnational disintegration, violation of human rights, the abuse of
\npower and blatant disrespect for the law, this nation is also
\nbeing plagued by the terror of drugs. Some narcotics officers
\nhave said that this country is not only a market for
\ninternational drug syndicates, but is also an illegal drug
\nproducer. So Indonesia now looks like a candle burning at both
\nends.<\/p>\n
Observers say that foreign drug dealers have targeted
\nIndonesia because of the large population and the leniency of the
\nlegal system. Compared to Malaysia and Singapore, Indonesia is a
\nnirvana for drug traffickers.<\/p>\n
In Singapore, a drug trafficker caught smuggling in 15 grams
\nof heroin is subject to the death penalty if found guilty in
\ncourt. But in Indonesia, judges admit it is difficult to prove
\ndrug charges. Many people claim that drugs seized as evidence
\noften dwindle in bulk on their way to the courthouse thanks to
\ncorrupt officers.<\/p>\n
While no party wants to accept the blame, the number of those
\nfalling prey to drugs increases by the day, and they are getting
\nyounger and younger. On the other side of the dark picture, drug
\nsyndicates seem to be proficient at finding ways to sell their
\ncommodities here. The desperation caused by the economic turmoil
\nhas also helped drug syndicates in their operations.<\/p>\n
Reports say that besides recruiting young people as
\ntraffickers, the syndicates have also lured women -- especially
\nhousewives -- into the dirty business. Women are said to be
\nbetter at attracting users.<\/p>\n
Police officers are falling over each other's feet in hunting
\ndown drug traffickers, but big catches are seldom heard of. It is
\na tragic irony that the public is fed stories of police successes
\nin drug catches, when the major players go untouched.<\/p>\n
The military police are still handling the cases of 28 Army
\nand police officers suspected of either drug dealing or growing
\nmarijuana over the past three years, while new cases are piling
\nup.<\/p>\n
In this case, one can understand the serious concern of
\nmembers of the public -- especially parents, who are at a loss as
\nto how to prevent their children from falling victims. Some
\nneighborhoods have posted signs that declare war on drugs, while
\nin one area the patience of community members wore thin and they
\nset fire to a house where they suspected drug dealers lived. They
\nclaimed the police were impotent in facing the criminals.<\/p>\n
Worse still, parents whose children have been lured into the
\nworld of drugs and caught by the police are often faced with
\nanother predicament when it comes time to arrange their release
\nfrom police detention and the financial settlement it entails.
\nOnce the child is back home, parents often have difficultly
\nfinding a rehabilitation center -- usually a pesantren (Islamic
\nboarding school) -- that is able to truly save their child from
\nthe dangers of drugs, because the ones which used to do this
\nnoble social service effectively are now surrounded by drug
\ntraffickers who prey on the reforming addicts. A few parents send
\ntheir addicted children to an Islamic school in Kuala Lumpur,
\nMalaysia, to be rehabilitated. But locally there appears to be no
\nsolution.<\/p>\n
To date there is no light at the end of the tunnel, and the
\ntendrils of the drug world stretch out to our younger generation.
\nThis is made all the more possible because the authorities
\nstarted the antinarcotics campaign from the wrong end. They hunt
\ndown small-time drug traffickers and drug users. That they are
\nfailing is obvious when one considers that no important drug
\ntrafficker or producers have been caught.<\/p>",
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