Ecstasy scarce in Medan after police raids

Ecstasy scarce in Medan after police raids

Apriadi Gunawan, The Jakarta Post, Medan

Ecstasy is hard to come by here after police raided two factories
making the drug in Serang, Banten and Malang, East Java recently,
an ecstasy user says.

Consequently, the price of the so-termed recreational drug has
gone up.

Yudi, not his real name, said the ecstasy circulating in the
city came mostly from Jakarta or Tangerang. The pills are
dispatched to drug dealers in Binjai who distribute them in
Medan.

Fake ecstasy pills, made by profit-driven drug dealers who
often do not care which chemicals they use, are also on the
market.
"Normally two ecstasy pills are mixed with other chemicals to
make five," said Yudi.

Because the product is inferior the price is also lower.
Whereas an ecstasy pill is usually Rp 100,000, a fake or mixed
pill is Rp 50,000, said Yudi.

However, due to the shortage of the drug, an ecstasy pill now
costs Rp 200,000 and a mixed one Rp 130,000, said Yudi.
"I used to take five pills a week, but now I have reduced my
consumption to just one," said Yudi.

The ecstasy factory in Serang, Banten province was raided by
police three weeks ago. The factory could produce one million
ecstasy pills or tablets a week worth Rp 100 billion (US$10
million).

During the raid, which was led by National Police chief Gen.
Sutanto, 62.4 tons of precursor chemicals for the making of
methamphetamines was discovered and 6.7 tons of chemicals for
ecstasy production. Police also seized thousands of ecstasy pills
and hundreds of kilograms of methamphetamines ready to be
transported to Hong Kong.

According to the police, the factory was the third largest
ever raided after ones in Fiji and China. The factory raided in
Malang, East Java had a lower production capacity but several
arrests were made and the police are investigating the case.

Meanwhile, the coordinator of the Communication Center for the
Antidrug Community in Medan, Ahmad Dayan Lubis, confirmed the
shortage of ecstasy in Medan.

Ahmad said ecstasy transactions had dropped by 30 percent
since the police raids.

Between January and September this year the Medan Police
confiscated 1,599 ecstasy pills from drug suspects.

The use of ecstasy has been linked to a wide range of
abnormalities such as impaired memory, chronic depression and
panic attacks.