City urged to be subtle in Ecstasy raids
JAKARTA (JP): Disco owners say they support the official drug crackdown but would prefer that raids were conducted by stealth with reliable intelligence, without TV cameramen.
Chairman of the discotheque and karaoke owners association, Deddy Rossano Endjo, told a meeting with city authorities on drug circulation on Tuesday night that open operations, like those recently conducted by the military and the police, have damaged their businesses.
Over 100 discotheque owners, City Police officers, the Jakarta military command, prosecutors and city tourism officials attended the meeting at City Hall.
"The number of patrons have decreased by half. Those who have nothing to do with drug trafficking said they are afraid of being filmed by TV cameras. This could lead to the nightspots' bankruptcy," Deddy said.
He suggested the government find a better way to "comb" nightspots for Ecstasy users, buyers and sellers which was not as disruptive.
Deddy cited the Zodiac discotheque in West Jakarta, as one of the biggest discos in Indonesia which had suffered lower patronage because of frequent raids.
"Zodiac usually has over 1,000 people a night. The number has dropped drastically," Deddy, a director of Zodiac, said.
The city authorities aided by military police have raided several discotheques in their war against drugs.
The raids have evoked praise and criticism. The authorities have vowed to continue the raids, which are criticized by some as ineffective.
When law enforcers raid discos, they search patrons while TV cameramen film them. People are complaining that they look stupid and guilty on television even though they have broken no laws.
"If the authorities maintain such operations many discotheques will close," Deddy said. "It is true that the operations, especially the ones which involved reporters and cameramen, have stopped regular customers visiting our spots," he said.
Street searches
He suggested that the police could search visitors before they enter discotheques. "A place some 200 meters away from the discotheque would be better for body searches," he said.
Deddy said this could help owners stop patrons from bringing and selling drugs inside their discos.
"I think the authorities should consider our proposal because that's why we are here tonight," Deddy told reporters after the meeting.
The head of the city public order office, Kusaeni, said that the proposal would be considered, but the raids would continue.
"The city administration and other relevant offices vow to stop all kinds of drug trafficking, especially Ecstasy. The Ecstasy "business" will damage future generations of our youth," Kusaeni said.
In Tuesday night's meeting, the head of the city tourism agency, Fauzi Bowo, said that disco owners should help fight the drug trade if they want everything "back to normal" without a need for sudden raids.
"Operations must continue. The authorities will still keep an eye on the establishments. Believe me, although the (police) operations may make the city unattractive to tourists, the city will survive without such places," he said.
The disco owners rejected an idea to ban "house music"; as proposed by Kusaeni in Tuesday's meeting.
"No one can prove that the music relates to the use of Ecstasy," Deddy said. "The music which is now trendy among teenagers will disappear in the next two or three years." (yns)