1997 a bad trip for drug sugglers and users

By Christiani Tumelap

JAKARTA (JP): At least 157 people -- including 24 foreigners -- have been arrested this year for their alleged role in drug smuggling, dealing or using in the city.

This number excludes hundreds of people rounded up at weekends during routine police crackdowns on nightspots here.

Most of the arrested foreigners were charged with trafficking and possessing heroin. At least 40 of the local suspects were detained for using and dealing in Ecstasy, 25 for marijuana offenses and dozens of others for heroin, hashish or barbiturate crimes.

At least 19.2 kilograms of heroin, 5,980 grams of hashish, 131,612 grams of marijuana, 50,000 Ecstasy pills, more than 2 million pills of the barbiturate Nipam and 3,050 BK tranquilizer pills have been seized.

During the year, new terms were coined for popular drugs such as sabu-sabu for second-grade heroin and putauw for third-grade, while the demand for Ecstasy started to wane.

A breakdown of some of the year's most remarkable drug cases follows:

Jan. 8: Customs and excise officers of Soekarno-Hatta International Airport busted South African Limbane Cosmo with 320 grams of heroin allegedly found in his possession.

The arrest happened by chance when Cosmo fainted after disembarking from a flight from Bangkok. When officers tried to administer first aid, they found drugs hidden in 14 capsules inside his jeans and another 11 capsules were later discovered in his stomach.

After 36 days in police detention, Cosmo made headlines again when he escaped from the National Police Headquarters' detention center. He is still on the run.

February: In the first week, police arrested a man -- who claimed to be a Nigerian citizen -- for allegedly possessing a fake passport and trying to sell 156 grams of heroin to an undercover police officer at a bus shelter in Kebon Sirih, Central Jakarta.

Police also arrested two men for selling 1,500 Ecstasy pills at discotheques in Kota, Central Jakarta, and three men for trafficking a total of 14 kilograms of marijuana in West and East Jakarta.

In the last week, police seized nine pinches of morphine and arrested nine university students participating in a morphine- fest on Jl. Cempaka Putih Timur, Central Jakarta.

Two alleged drug sellers were also arrested in Sawah Besar, also Central Jakarta, with 350 Ecstasy pills and 15 grams of heroin in their possession.

March 13: Narcotics police confiscated more than 2 million cheap Nipam barbiturate pills at a drug packing factory in Taman Kota, West Jakarta. Three men were detained.

Cheap drugs like Nipam and BK are sold on the street here for Rp 1,500 for a strip of 10 pills.

April 3: Police arrested nine people -- including two Nepalese and a Briton -- for smuggling and trafficking a total of 1,297 grams of first-grade heroin. The Nepalese had passed through airport customs undetected by swallowing capsules full of heroin.

April 5: Another Nepalese was arrested upon his arrival at the airport with a total of 2,980 grams of hashish, which was found in the soles of his shoes, socks, a belt and underwear.

April 12: Another three kilograms of hashish was seized from a couple at a Tangerang bus station in West Java. The couple admitted that they had been told to bring the drugs to Jakarta by bus from the North Sumatra capital of Medan and would be paid Rp 1.2 million for the job.

April 16: A Singaporean was arrested at Dusit Mangga Dua Hotel in Central Jakarta where he was supposed to make a deal on 2,450 Ecstasy pills with accomplices.

During the last days of April the police arrested five people, including two university students, in separate raids and seized a total of 28 grams of heroin, 12 kilograms of marijuana and a Colt 38 revolver.

At the same time, police launched several raids on discotheques in West and Central Jakarta. Some 58 alleged drug users and dealers, two marines and two officers of the Vice President's Guard were arrested and 28 Ecstasy pills, 18 marijuana cigarettes and two guns were seized.

May 20: A convicted Ghanaian who was jailed for 20 years in 1996 for trafficking heroin escaped from Central Jakarta's Salemba Penitentiary.

May 24: An American, believed to have used Indonesia for money laundering activities and a transit point for smuggling tons of Thai-grown marijuana from 1979 to 1991, was deported from Bali's Ngurah Rai International Airport.

May 27: Police arrested a Nigerian and a Ghanaian in Central Jakarta for possessing 39 ampules of heroin.

June 12: Two recent high school graduates were arrested near their school on Jl. Panglima Polim in South Jakarta after selling 0.5 grams of heroin to an undercover operative.

June 13: Four alleged drug users and dealers were arrested at Sofyan Hotel in Tebet, South Jakarta, with 25 grams of heroin in their possession.

June 17: Two Pakistanis were apprehended at a rented house in Tanah Tinggi, Central Jakarta, and another offender was detained in Tebet, South Jakarta. The last suspect was shot in the leg for allegedly trying to attack police during an arrest. Police seized 0.5 grams of heroin and 20 fake Pakistani passports from the suspects.

In the last two weeks of June, police arrested 13 suspects in different raids in Central, West and South Jakarta. A total of 4,600 Ecstasy pills, 10 kilograms of marijuana, 525 grams of heroin and a .25 caliber FN handgun were confiscated as evidence.

July 3: Three people were arrested in South Jakarta for possessing six kilograms of marijuana. One of them was shot in the feet for resisting arrest.

July 12: Four people, including a woman, were nabbed for being involved in the distribution of two and a half kilograms of marijuana which was smuggled by speedboat from Johor, Malaysia, to Batam Island and transported to Jakarta by land.

July 30: A Singaporean was arrested at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport for attempting to smuggle 14,840 new-style, high-grade Ecstasy pills.

Aug. 7: One of the police's most wanted drug dealers was arrested at his Kelapa Gading residence in North Jakarta. More than 3.7 million barbiturate and tranquilizer pills were seized from the man who is believed to control drug distribution in Jakarta and other major cities in Java.

On the same day, police also arrested a man at Ambhara Hotel in South Jakarta for possessing and trafficking two kilograms of marijuana in the form of Buddha Sticks. Police shot the man in the thigh for trying to resist arrest.

Aug. 9: Kelapa Gading Police detectives arrested two alleged drugs manufacturers and their accomplice, a drug distributor, who was arrested two days earlier. About 900 kilograms of white powder -- which could make up to six million Nipam pills -- was confiscated. It was hailed the largest haul of cheap drugs this year.

In the first two weeks, a team of Jakarta police and military personnel raided discotheques, bars and prostitution venues in the eastern and northern part of Jakarta. Hundreds of people, including dozens of prostitutes and 22 military officers, were arrested during the raids but only a small amount of drugs were found.

Aug. 30: A Ghanaian and a Nigerian were arrested at a hotel on Jl. Samanhudi in Central Jakarta while trafficking 200 grams of heroin.

Aug. 31: A man was arrested at the international airport after picking up a friend's suitcase which contained 25,750 Ecstasy pills. The suitcase was on board a flight from Amsterdam and carried the name of another person who is still at large.

Sept. 16: A coffee vendor, who also allegedly operated as a drug dealer at Pasar Minggu market, South Jakarta, was arrested with a total of 21,400 Nipam pills and 3,050 BK pills in his possession.

Oct. 9: Three alleged drug dealers were busted in the parking lot of Mega Pasaraya department store in Manggarai, South Jakarta.

Oct. 16: Five people were arrested during two different raids in South and Central Jakarta. Two of them were arrested while trafficking 380 Ecstasy pills in Central Jakarta while the other three were nabbed in Pamulang, South Jakarta, with 4.6 kilograms of marijuana in their possession.

Oct. 17: Police Chief Sgt. Kamino was shot dead during a raid on an alleged drug dealer in a cheap apartment in Pejompongan, South Jakarta. Police said the suspect had shot Kamino, but an officer is now being held responsible for the shooting.

Nov. 5-7: Eight foreigners, including a Thai, a Liberian and six Nigerians, were apprehended in connection to a similar drug case. They were allegedly involved in smuggling a total of nine kilograms of first-grade heroin from the world-renowned Golden Triangle area.

Nov. 10: A mother of five was arrested for trafficking marijuana. About 20 grams of marijuana was found in bedroom pillows in her Bekasi house in West Java.

Nov. 15: A special team of Jakarta detectives shot dead a Nigerian, who was believed to be involved in a drug ring. The fatal shooting is believed to be the first case of Indonesian police shooting a foreigner.

Police also fired at a Nigerian when he allegedly pointed his Barrette handgun toward detectives during a raid at Tanah Abang Indah Hotel in Central Jakarta.

The Nigerian was believed to be the owner of six kilograms of heroin smuggled in by a Myanmar national who was arrested at the airport after arriving from Singapore on board a Silk Air flight.

Dec. 12: A man was arrested at Tanjung Priok Port upon his arrival on Bukit Siguntang passenger ship from Medan to Jakarta. More than 70 kilograms of Aceh-grown marijuana was found packed in his suitcases.

Dec. 14: A Pakistani was arrested for possessing 70 grams of heroin at the immigration department's quarantine center in Kali Deres, West Jakarta. The man was initially detained at the center for having incomplete documents to enter Indonesia.

Dec. 17: Two ship passengers were caught by Tanjung Priok Port Police with 5.4 kilograms of marijuana shortly after disembarking from a ship, Umsini, from Tanjung Pinang.

City police promised to get tough with drug suspects following the issuance of psychotropic and narcotics laws this year.

The laws give the police greater access and authority to use any means to nail those involved in drug and demand the maximum penalty.

The lightest penalty is a maximum of six months in prison or Rp 1 million in fines for parents who fail to inform police or related bodies that their children are addicts.

The minimum penalty is for drug users, smugglers or dealers who can serve four years in prison and pay fines totaling Rp 150 million. (cst)