Eight drug dealers nabbed, 30 kg of marijuana seized
JAKARTA (JP): Police arrested eight alleged drug dealers in a series of raids and confiscated nearly 30 kilograms of marijuana and 342 Ecstasy pills, an officer said yesterday.
Chief of City Police Detectives of Narcotics Affairs Lt. Col. D. Moeliana Arief said three of the eight suspects, believed to be members of a local drug syndicate, were arrested Friday and Saturday with about 20 kilograms of marijuana.
"We believe the three, including a woman, have been involved in the business for some time," Moeliana said.
"Police are still searching for another member of the syndicate who was a dealer," he said.
One of the three detained people, identified as DK, was arrested in Pondok Kopi, East Jakarta, on Friday when he was about to sell marijuana to an undercover detective, Moeliana said.
Police confiscated 45 envelopes of dried marijuana and 40 envelopes of Buddha Stick-type marijuana from DK.
"DK bought the dried marijuana for around Rp 1.7 million (US$693) per kilogram from a distributor and would sell it for about Rp 2.5 million to customers," Moeliana said.
He said DK confessed he often bought the drug from a dealer named RO, who managed to flee before police could catch him.
Based on DK's information, police searched RO's house on Jl. Semeru, Central Jakarta, on Saturday morning and arrested RO's wife Li with 100 grams of dried marijuana, Moeliana said.
Police then captured another member of the syndicate, identified as MD, after questioning Li, he said.
"Out of 20 kilograms of marijuana, 15 kilograms were confiscated at MD's house in Tangerang, West Java, Saturday night," Moeliana said.
Also on Saturday, another alleged drug dealer, identified as TWT alias A Chi, 42, was arrested with 342 Ecstasy pills, worth at least Rp 3 million, at the Sydney 2000 entertainment center in West Jakarta.
Police said TWT had been selling the drug at the night spot for the past three months.
Cheap
Each pill was sold for between Rp 7,000 and Rp 10,000. They were cheap because they were made from a mixture of several Ecstasy types and non-drug ingredients, police said.
On Thursday, four men were arrested in South Jakarta for allegedly possessing and trafficking eight kilograms of marijuana worth around Rp 16 million.
The four were Ij, 22, Ys, 21, Pjh, 38, and Sa, 26. No further details on the chronology of the arrest were available as police were still investigating the case.
Moeliana said the progressive crack down on drug dealers did not necessarily mean crimes were on the rise.
"The successful raids against drug dealers were partly due to our personnel who did their homework well," Moeliana said.
He said that his department has so far arrested 71 locals and at least 13 foreigners for allegedly using and trafficking drugs during the first five months of this year.
"Nineteen of 71 arrested suspects were between 21 and 25 years old and the other 47 were 26 and above," Moeliana said.
He said police have seized 6.7 million psychotropic-type pills, 35 kilograms of marijuana, 1.9 kilograms of heroin and a kilogram of Hashish so far this year. (cst)