Chaubey and the drug war

The execution of Ayodhya Prasadh Chaubey in North Sumatra earlier this week brings to a close the 67-year-old's saga of failed judicial appeals. The Indian national was initially sentenced to death in 1994, after being found guilty of possessing over 12 kilograms of heroin.

Much of the recent discussion surrounding Chaubey has been centered on the moral debate over the death penalty. While Indonesian courts continue to hand out the death penalty with regularity, Chaubey is the first drug smuggler, either foreign or Indonesian, to be executed in over a decade. His execution was the first carried out in three-years, the third in nine.

It is not our intention here to deliberate the ethics of the executed punishment. The moral debate on the righteousness of capital or corporal punishment is a costly and private luxury, which deserves deeper contemplation beyond this limited space. However, Chaubey's execution highlights a common concern for those on either side of the debate: The growing drug epidemic facing the country.

The authorities have towed the familiar line of zero tolerance for drug traffickers and users. In the last four years, the courts have handed death sentences to nearly 30 traffickers, five of whom are Indonesian. Even President Megawati Soekarnoputri, in a demonstration of toughness, recently rejected clemency for 11 convicted drug traffickers.

While we welcome this public display of resolve, it seems to have done little to stem the bane of our community. Such is the prevalence of the problem that a survey released earlier this year found that, in one in every 10 Jakarta families, someone was struggling with substance abuse. Between November 2003 and April 2004, the narcotics division of the Jakarta Police, destroyed over US$1.17 million worth of drugs.

The saddest part of all, is that most of those addicted had prior knowledge of the dangers of narcotics. Their addictions were not borne out of sheer ignorance, but stupidity. Despite the public campaigns, tightening control and slogan of just say "no", too many of the young are still saying "yes".

It is even more ironic that every time a major entertainment den is busted for drugs, there always seems to be the odd off- duty security personnel caught for illegal possession.

Irrespective of whether the death penalty is an appropriate and civilized punishment, we believe that more has to be done in the fight against drugs, particularly in stemming the supply side of the problem.

Executions, harsh verdicts and exhibitions of confiscated narcotics are not indications of the success of the battle against widening drug abuse.

Like the public destruction of confiscated drugs by the Jakarta Police's narcotics division, Chaubey's execution, and the promise of more against convicted drug felons, is nothing more than a public spectacle.

The war against drugs must be fought on multiple fronts: soliciting the young, in the courts, cutting the distribution line and, especially, detaining the suppliers.

The convicted drug traffickers currently on death row, for the most part, are minor players, links in the growing drug cartel in Indonesia. For the drug trade, their arrests are minor chinks.

We have rarely seen major drug lords brought to justice.

Chaubey and others caught smuggling illegal substances are no benchmark for success in the battle against drugs. While we do not wish to excuse their actions, most of them are ignorant individuals, who for one reason or another committed these stupid crimes in desperate need of money.

In the dark world of the narcotics trade, these couriers are expendable. For a mere US$500 and a return plane ticket, dozens of people willingly line up to transport innocent looking packages across borders.

It's time for the authorities to cease resting on their laurels, and achieve more than a few minor arrests and incidental drug hauls.

It's time to sever alleged connections between the underworld and rogue security elements.

It's time for the police to clamp down on their own officers who are known drug users.

Our young are falling prey to drug dealers. What is at stake is nothing short of the country's future.