Drugs 'godfather' arrested at home with 3.75m pills
JAKARTA (JP): One of the city's most wanted drugs distributors was arrested yesterday at his mansion in Kelapa Gading, North Jakarta, with more than three million tranquilizer and barbiturate pills in his possession.
The chief of City Police Narcotics Detectives, Lt. Col. D. Moeliana Arief, said the 3,756,000 pills confiscated from the suspect had a street value of at least Rp 300 million (US$115,000).
The seizure is one of the largest hauls of such "dangerous drugs" ever in Indonesia. In March, police seized more than two million barbiturate-type Nipam pills.
According to officer Moeliana, the suspect, identified as Peter Safri Wijono, 36, kept the pills in 70 boxes of different sizes in a warehouse about 4.5 kilometers from his house on Jl. Gedung Indah.
The confiscated drugs included 500 ampules of liquid Amphetamine, 40 boxes of Nipams, five boxes of five-milligram Nitrazepam-type Dumolids, a box of 2-milligram Rohypnols, two boxes of Lexotan, 14 boxes of BK, and five boxes of two-milligram Rivotrils.
Moeliana said that Peter had been under police surveillance for about month.
When the raid took place at around 8 a.m. yesterday, the suspect was alone and did not resist arrest, he said.
Guards
A couple hired by Peter at his warehouse were listed by the police as witnesses in the case because they said they knew nothing about the goods they guarded.
Rohypnol is a tranquilizer, like Valium, but 10 times more potent, as it produce sedative effects, including amnesia, muscle relaxation, and can weaken psychomotor responses he said.
The government banned the production and sale of the drugs, except for medical purposes, in the early 1980s.
But some drugs, such as Nipam, Rohypnol and BK, are widely sold at many roadsides in shopping areas, such as Senen and Tanah Abang markets in Central Jakarta, Blok A in South Jakarta and many on Jl. Gajah Mada in West Jakarta.
The pills are usually sold for around Rp 2,500 for a strip of ten.
Moeliana said that Peter, if found guilty, could face a maximum penalty of 15 years in jail and a Rp 200 million fine as stated in Article 60 of the 1997 Psychotropic Law Number 5 on the illegal distribution of drugs.
Police believe there are at least two other major drugs traffickers, who distribute their drugs not only in Greater Jakarta but also to cities in West and East Java.
The first suspect, identified as Ben, was arrested in July but later released.
The other man, believed to be the boss of a Nipam packaging factory raided in March with over 2 million pills in West Jakarta, is still at large.
During preliminary police questioning, Peter confessed that he handled many drugs shipped regularly from cities like Bandung, and distributed them to dealers in Jakarta, Surabaya and other cities.
Drug dealers in Senen also bought the drugs from Peter, police said.
Meanwhile, police have also arrested another, alleged marijuana, dealer.
City Police Spokesman Lt. Col. E. Aritonang said yesterday that a man, identified as Ahmad Yusuf, 33, was arrested at the Ambhara Hotel, South Jakarta, Wednesday night with two kilograms of Budha stick-type marijuana.
Aritonang said that the arresting officers had to shoot Ahmad in his right thigh and foot because he tried to attack them.
Ahmad is now being treated at the Kramat Jati police hospital in East Jakarta. (cst)