Drug convict soap actor caught with drugs
Abdul Khalik, The Jakarta Post/Jakarta
That which is hard to believe could happen in real life can always be seen in local TV soap operas, or in the lives of the actors.
Soap opera actor Ibrahim Solahuddin, 32, aka Ibra Azhari, had almost two years of his 15-year drug conviction remaining when the Jatinegara Police found several grams of shabu-shabu (crystal methamphetamine) in his cell at Cipinang Penitentiary, East Jakarta, during a regular search last week.
Ibra denied that the drugs belonged to him, the Jakarta Police revealed on Friday, but a urine test by the National Narcotics Agency (BNN) came back positive.
According to Jakarta Police chief Insp. Gen. Firman Gani, Ibra may have to spend longer in prison for the infraction.
"He will get at least five more years. The additional years will automatically be added to his 15-year jail term. We are preparing the case file to be submitted to prosecutors," he said.
Firman said that Ibra would remain at the penitentiary and that police officers would visit to interrogate him.
He said his officers were questioning other people who were in the cell with Ibra when the search was conducted.
"We are also investigating the syndicate that supplies drugs in the prison," he added.
Police arrested Ibra in Pasar Minggu, South Jakarta, on Aug. 31, 2000, and found over nine grams of putaw (low-grade heroin) in his possession.
He was originally sentenced as a drug dealer to 15 years in prison by the South Jakarta Court on Oct. 15, 2003.
The case accentuates the fact that even prison bars cannot stop drug trafficking. Several other prisoners have been caught with drugs in earlier cell searches.
Also last week, police caught a convicted drug dealer, identified as Daeng Mansyur Amade, with two grams of heroin inside his cell in Cipinang Penitentiary.
Last year, police discovered a drug syndicate, led by a convict identified as Rahman, inside the penitentiary after police arrested several of Rahman's men handling transactions outside.
The biggest prison drug trafficking case broke in June 2003, when the police found that two African nationals -- Nwaolisa Hansen Anthony and George Obinya -- controlled an international drug network worth around Rp 800 million per month from inside Cipinang Penitentiary.
However, no firm action has been taken by law enforcers to stop drug trafficking in the prison, which is under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Justice and Human Rights.