9,264 Ecstasy pills destroyed

9,264 Ecstasy pills destroyed

TANGERANG (JP): Soekarno-Hatta International Airport's customs
office destroyed another 9,264 Ecstasy pills worth about Rp 465
million (US$166,000) yesterday.

The office head, Nifsu Chasbullah, said the pills, wrapped in
11 packs, were confiscated at the airport on Sept. 10 and Sept.
19.

Nifsu explained that the pills, which were of the Butterfly
and Omega types, were destroyed after his office failed to trace
the owners.

"In line with the existing procedure, we announced the
stranded goods at the airport. But after more than one month, no
one claimed them so that we decided to burn them," he said.

He said that the pills were part of the psychotropic drugs
confiscated in 22 cases in the 1996/1997 period.

The Tangerang Prosecutor's Office on Dec. 2 burned 104,919
Ecstasy pills worth about Rp 4 billion, which were smuggled into
the country.

The destruction was the largest ever conducted in the country.
The pills had been used as evidence in 23 trials at Tangerang
District Court.

Present at yesterday's destruction ceremony were Soepriadji,
inspector general of customs and excise; Mulyono MS, Soekarno-
Hatta Airport administrator; Lt. Col. Gordon Siadari, head of
detectives for narcotics and banned drugs; and Maj. Herman Hamid,
deputy chief of the Tangerang Police precinct. (41/hhr)