BBN raids another drug lab in Tangerang
Yogita Tahilramani, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The National Narcotics Agency (BBN), with the help of police detectives, raided on Wednesday another drug laboratory producing ecstasy pills in the Cipondoh area of Tangerang, seizing, among other things, around 700 kilograms of raw materials used in the production of ecstasy, a cooling tank and a distillation machine.
The BNN's chief, Comr. Gen. Nurfaizi, said on Wednesday that the second drug laboratory was located just one kilometer away from the one raided last week and was owned by the same man, Ang Kiem Soei alias Anche Tahir alias Kim Ho alias Tommy Wijaya, 31. Both laboratories were capable of producing ecstasy pills in large quantities.
"These pills are in extremely high demand in the capital," Nurfaizi told reporters on Wednesday.
The police had earlier seized about 8,400 ecstasy pills from Ang Kiem's first laboratory, which had the capacity of producing some 150,000 pills daily, along with illicit chemicals used in the making of the pills.
Ang Kiem has been pursued by narcotics detectives since 1998 and holds both a Dutch passport and an Indonesian identification card, which was reportedly issued in Irian Jaya.
The sudden arrest, however, has been met with cynicism by critics and police observers, since the existence and locations of both ecstasy-producing laboratories were allegedly known for a long time to local police, and National Police Headquarters.
National Police deputy spokesman Brig. Gen. Edward Aritonang has said that the pills were in high demand, and that they "sold out" in nightclubs and discos each month, earning the producers hundreds of billions of rupiah.
Material seized from the factory included MDMA (Methylenedioxymethamphetamine), which is Ecstasy before it is made into a capsule or pill.
MDMA or Ecstasy is a synthetic, psychoactive drug possessing stimulant and hallucinogenic properties. MDMA is taken orally, usually in tablet or capsule form, and its effects last from approximately four to six hours. Users of the drug say that it produces profoundly positive feelings, empathy for others, elimination of anxiety and extreme relaxation.
MDMA is also said to suppress the need to eat, drink, or sleep, enabling users to endure two- to three-day parties.
Consequently, MDMA use sometimes results in severe dehydration or exhaustion. It is most often distributed at late-night parties called "raves", and in nightclubs and rock concerts.