Comedian Polo admits he is a drug user

JAKARTA (JP): Comedian Barata Nugroho, alias Polo, confessed on Friday that he was carrying 0.5 grams of shabu-shabu (crystal methamphetamine) when police arrested him a day earlier at a hotel on Jl. Matraman Raya in East Jakarta.

However, the 38-year-old suspect insisted that he was not the owner of the drugs, although he admitted that he had been consuming drugs since June.

"I found the drugs by accident at a hotel in Mangga Besar, Central Jakarta. As I was in a hurry to the East Jakarta hotel to look for room for my father-in-law and my mother-in-law, I forgot to throw away the drugs," he told reporters at city police headquarters.

The incident started as Polo, who is a member of top comedy troupe Srimulat, assisted a friend, named Bambang, to book a hotel room in Mangga Besar.

"I have been with Bambang at the hotel since Wednesday as he has been suffering from a hernia," he said.

Polo explained that when he first moved into the hotel room, he checked out a wardrobe and found a tin can with a small quantity of shabu-shabu inside.

"I decided to keep the drugs," he said.

He said that he was then called by his pregnant wife Anna Widjaya on Thursday before dawn who told him that she was about to go into labor.

"That confused me. I was forced to rush her to nearby Hermina hospital in East Jakarta, and finally she delivered a baby boy at 6.45 a.m on Thursday," he said, his eyes glistening with tears.

Polo claimed that he then rushed to the hotel on Jl. Matraman Raya to book a hotel room for his wife's parents.

"As I was looking for a room at the hotel, police officers were already there and asked me whether I had any drugs on me.

"I said that I had drugs in my left pocket, and handed it over to them. It's all my fault," he said, again with eyes glistening.

The comedian explained that he consumed drugs as they helped him socialize with his fellow celebrities.

"I used to buy drugs from some people in discotheques here (the Mangga Besar area)," he said.

City police spokesman Supt. Muhammad Nur Usman dismissed allegations that the arrest was part of a police bid to "entrap" artists with drug charges.

"It has no relation with the Doyok case. We had obtained information that someone was carrying drugs, and, by coincidence, it turned out to be Polo," he said.

Sudharmaji, alias Doyok, who often starred with Polo in the Ketoprak Humor comedy show, was arrested recently for possession of shabu-shabu. Like Polo, Doyok has also confessed that he was a drug user.

Nur said the suspect has been charged under Article 62 of the 1997 Psychotropic Substances Law for being in possession of shabu-shabu.

The Article carries a maximum sentence of five years in jail. (asa)