700 arrested in month-long antidrug drive
700 arrested in month-long antidrug drive
Abdul Khalik, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
At least 756 people, including five foreigners and several
members of the Indonesian military (TNI) and police, have been
arrested during month-long anti-drug raids in residential
and entertainment centers across the capital.
City police chief Insp. Gen. Firman Gani also said on Monday
that authorities confiscated at least 368 kilograms of marijuana,
275 grams of heroin, 857 grams of crystal methampetamine (shabu
shabu), and over 1,700 ecstasy pills.
"We will continue to conduct raids to clean Jakarta from
drugs. We will cooperate with related agencies such as the
National Narcotics Agency (BNN) to maximize the results," Firman
said when presenting confiscated drugs to reporters at city
police headquarters on Monday.
According to Firman, at least 351 of those arrested were drug
dealers, including four foreigners, while the 404 others were
drug users. Three of the four foreigners held Chinese passports.
Firman said the arrest of so many people across the capital
was witness to the fact that drug dealing had become a widespread
problem and that tough measures had to be taken immediately.
At least 540 drug arrests were made in residential areas
across the city, according to Firman.
Firman said that he had ordered his officers in every precinct
in Jakarta, Tangerang, Bekasi and Depok to arrest at least 32 big
drug dealers every month.
The number of drug trafficking cases continues to increase in
the Greater Jakarta area, with two high profile cases being the
arrest of a commissioner of state-owned Asset Management Company
(PPA) last Friday, and the raid on an ecstasy factory in Bogor,
West Java early this month.
The PPA commissioner, identified as Taufik Mappaenre Ma'ruf,
was arrested with three grams of marijuana at Soekarno-Hatta
International Airport. He had apparently intended to go to Bali
for a vacation.
Although police were still investigating Taufik's role in a
drug dealing syndicate, police said that according to a big-time
trafficker, Taufik, who is now under police detention, was a drug
dealer.
On April 4, police shot dead an alleged big-time drug
trafficker Filip Widjajanto, 46, in a raid on a factory in
Jasinga, Bogor.
Police confiscated machines capable of producing thousands of
pills per day.
City police anti-drug chief Sr. Comr. Carlo Tewu said that
police would concentrate on conducting raids in bars and
discotheques, as drugs circulated in such areas.
He said that police would use the money laundering law to net
trafficker's assets in addition to demanding heavy punishments
from the courts.