Eight drug dealers nabbed, 30 kg of marijuana seized
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)