Drug users, dealers still addicted as ever

Drug users, dealers still addicted as ever

JAKARTA (JP): The drug problem prevails with only a slight
change in its distribution and the market demand as users and
traffickers gradually shift to heroin's derivative putauw and
amphetamine-type shabu-shabu, a police official said Saturday.

But the change has not, by any means, prompted those in the
drug scene to cast aside other drugs like Ecstasy or marijuana,
according to city police spokesman Lt. Col. E. Aritonang.

"All the drugs still exist and are consumed by the junkies.
But, yes, we've been confiscating more putauw and shabu-shabu
than Ecstasy since late last year," he told The Jakarta Post.

During the first three months of this year alone, the Jakarta
Police narcotics unit has reportedly arrested at least 30
suspected drug users, traffickers or suppliers and shot dead
three others during raids.

No less than 30 kilograms of marijuana, four cannabis
saplings, 50 grams of putauw, 5.5 kg of shabu-shabu, 780 grams of
cocaine and dozens of Ecstasy pills have reportedly been
confiscated during the same period.

Aritonang emphasized that the small amount of Ecstasy seized
from suspects could not guarantee that the drug was no longer
popular or that no one would be prompted to smuggle the drug from
European countries where it originated.

He made the comments in response to Wednesday's statement by
the acting chief of the customs and excise office at Soekarno-
Hatta International Airport, Harjadi, about the correlation
between the decrease in people caught smuggling Ecstasy into the
country and the ability of some people here to produce the drug
themselves.

"We have not found any drug smuggling attempts which related
to Ecstasy this year because it can now be made locally," Harjadi
said after briefing the media following the arrest on an
Indonesian man who tried to smuggle 4.8 kg of shabu-shabu on a
flight from Hong Kong. The drug find was the office's first bust
this year.

Last year, it confiscated about 63,481 Ecstasy pills, 5.7 kg
of heroin, 4.1 kg of shabu-shabu and 2.9 kg of hashish.

Aritonang said it was possible authorities found it more
difficult to nail drug suspects simply because the latter had
become more sophisticated and used many means to avoid being
caught smuggling or transporting drugs.

However, he admitted that some people here had refined their
ability to produce Ecstasy.

"But, they can only make the secondary goods, not the real
stuff. They usually mix the real Ecstasy pills, which still need
to be supplied by overseas producers, with other ingredients."

A source familiar with the drug scene, who asked for
anonymity, shared Aritonang's view, saying that substandard
Ecstasy was sold much cheaper than imported pills because of its
secondary quality.

"The secondary stuff is called oplosan. It is sold for less
than Rp 30,000 per pill, far cheaper than Rp 150,000 for each
real pill of the highest quality," he told the Post Saturday.

He said that an oplosan pill, which also had various names
according to its appearance and the ingredients mixed with it,
was basically made from a mixture of crushed imported Ecstasy,
tapioca and cheap tranquilizer-type koplo pills.

"If I'm not mistaken, the ratio is 1:3:6. One real pill is
mixed with three parts of tapioca and six koplo pills to produce
up to 10 oplosan pills."

The more secondary pills produced during the mixing process,
the lower its quality and the cheaper it is, he added.

The source said there was actually no real change in
the composition of the drug market as each drug had its own group
of users.

"Ecstasy is used by people from all walks of life who simply
want to have fun in their surroundings, usually at discotheques.
While heroin, putauw and shabu-shabu are used more by members of
the middle- to upper-class society who prefer to enjoy the drug
by themselves or with a small exclusive group at private premises
or intimate parties."

He said the demand for each type of drug had not changed and
the price had remained fairly stable. Heroin is sold for about Rp
450,000 per gram, shabu-shabu Rp 350,000 per gram and putauw Rp
250,000 per gram.

However, he said, some people might decide to shift from one
drug to another usually depending on the price or just following
the trend.

"One drug can be very popular during a certain period of time
and seems to be 'forgotten' when another drug becomes popular.
But the drug is still there, it never vanishes." (cst)