Ecstasy factory, pills found in apartments
Ecstasy factory, pills found in apartments
Abdul Khalik, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
In their antidrug operation held over the past few weeks, Jakarta
Police have arrested eight drug dealers operating from several
apartments in the capital, the police revealed on Thursday.
The police also confiscated over 12,000 ecstasy pills and 527
grams of shabu-shabu (crystal methamphetamine) from the suspects.
Chief of the narcotics unit at the city police, Comr. Sigit
Gumantio, said that more and more dealers had chosen apartments
as a place to produce, store and sell drugs.
"They thought they could hide their activities in apartments
which usually protect the privacy of the tenants," he said.
The police even found an apartment which had been converted
into an ecstasy factory.
The investigation started when the police arrested a suspected
dealer at his apartment in North Jakarta on Sept. 22. The police
found 7,380 ecstasy pills in the apartment but missed the
suspect's supplier, identified as Boy.
On the same day, another police team apprehended a suspect who
possessed dozens of ecstasy pills in his apartment in Central
Jakarta.
Both mentioned the name of a dealer and producer, whom the
police arrested on Sept. 24.
Inside the producer's apartment in Penjaringan, North Jakarta,
the police found 425 grams of shabu-shabu, 800 ecstasy pills, 80
bottles of liquid ecstasy, 25 kilograms of caffeine, 1.3
kilograms of ecstasy powder and a machine to produce pills.
The police also arrested two of the factories' workers.
"We are still chasing the producer. We believe he is one of
the most influential men in a drug syndicate in the capital,"
Sigit said.
He said that police would question the operator of the
apartment as its records showed that the apartment was vacant.
"How can they have the apartment vacant on record, while
several people have been living in it for several months? They
should explain that to us," Sigit said.
Police also arrested a suspected drug dealer near an apartment
in Mangga Besar, Taman Sari, West Jakarta on Sept. 29, with two
grams of shabu-shabu while on Sept. 30, another suspected drug
dealer, identified as Asiek Suwandi, was arrested with 3,000
ecstasy pills in Puri Indah Mall in Kembangan, West Jakarta.
Both suspects gave the police the names of their respective
suppliers.
Sigit said that police would keep a watch on apartments, which
according to information, were venues of drug parties and
transactions.
Previously, police also confiscated thousands of ecstasy pills
and arrested several drug dealers in other apartments, including
Rajawali Apartments in Pademangan, Central Jakarta and in Luguna
Apartments near Soekarno-Hatta International Airport.