Bareskrim Probes Viral Influencer Over Illegal Whip Pink Nitrous Oxide Use
The Directorate of Criminal Offences (DPO) of the Indonesian National Police’s Bareskrim has summoned a female influencer with the initials ZNM who had gone viral for using the illegal nitrous oxide gas branded Whip Pink on social media on Friday, 22 May. The summons follow a raid onWhip Pink production houses and the distribution network in Jakarta some time earlier.
The Narcotics Directorate’s Subdirectorate 3 will summon several consumers who bought Whip Pink canisters, one of them an influencer on the Instagram platform, in a statement by Brigadier General Eko Hadi Santoso, director of the Narcotics Directorate, on Wednesday, 20 May.
“The person concerned bought and used the Whip Pink nitrous oxide gas product and had previously gone viral on the Instagram social media scene,” he added.
In addition to ZNM, investigators also plan to summon several others suspected of being consumers. They are RV (29) domiciled in North Jakarta, AM (29) domiciled in Tangerang, CD (29) domiciled in Jakarta and APG (21) domiciled in Jakarta.
“Where one of the consumers is suspected of having made hundreds of purchases, it is necessary to obtain statements regarding their purchasing activity,” said Eko.
Earlier, Bareskrim Polri uncovered Whip Pink’s illegal nitrous oxide gas production houses and distribution network in Jakarta. Three production houses were raided on Monday and Tuesday (13–14/4) in the Central, East and North Jakarta areas.
Brigadier General Eko Hadi Santoso, director of the Narcotics Crimes Directorate at Bareskrim Polri, explained that the three production houses operated under PT Suplaindo Sukses Sejahtera and were confirmed to hold no distribution licences from the BPOM (Badan Pengawas Obat dan Makanan).
“PT Suplaindo Sukses Sejahtera has not yet obtained the legal status and BPOM distribution licence related to the production and sale of the N2O gas product under the Whippink brand,” he said in a written statement on Wednesday, 15 April.
Eko said that from raids on two shopfronts located in Kemayoran, Central Jakarta and Pademangan, North Jakarta, police seized thousands of N2O gas canisters ready for distribution in a variety of flavours and weights.
From the case’s disclosure, police also detained nine workers for further questioning as witnesses. They are Etikasati as the Whip Pink administrator, Slamter Triyoni as the nitrous oxide gas filling machine operator, and Sulton and Suprastyo as packing staff.
Although operating without an official licence, the Whip Pink business has a very wide distribution network, covering 16 warehouses in 10 major Indonesian cities. The profits earned over the past five months are reported to have reached IDR 21.3 billion.