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.