Forty-two netted for 'putaw' possession

JAKARTA (JP): Central Jakarta police have arrested 42 people over the last three weeks for allegedly possessing third grade heroin, known locally as putaw.

Lt. Col. M. Ibrahim, the mayoralty police chief, said yesterday that the detainees, netted in routine raids codenamed Operasi Kilat Jaya, were mostly students and private firm employees.

"Judging from the detainees and their relatives who visited them at the police precinct, I'm surprised because most of them are rich and well-educated people," Ibrahim said.

Some of the suspects and their families even offered "gifts" to Ibrahim in order to release the detainees. But, he said he rejected the bribes.

"There will be no compromise in this case, this is my word," he said.

"We'll bring all of them to court even if he or she possessed only a few grams of putaw."

The 42 people detained at the Central Jakarta police precinct excluded dozens of other suspects in similar cases who are still being detained at police subprecincts in Central Jakarta, Ibrahim said.

Under the 1976 Narcotics Law, a putaw consumer faces a maximum penalty of three years imprisonment while a courier could receive a sentence of 20 years and a maximum fine of Rp 50 million (US$16,670).

A trafficker, under the same law, faces a heavier maximum punishment of life in prison and a Rp 50 million fine.

Separately, a 19-year-old man was arrested by Central Jakarta police for possessing four grams of heroin in a raid on Jl. Penjernihan Raya in Bendungan Hilir early yesterday, City Police spokesman Lt. Col. E. Aritonang said.

Aritonang said that the man, Adam Zulkarnaen Lubis, was a student from Meruya Selatan in West Jakarta. But the officer refused to give other details of the suspect or the arrest.

Police were still interrogating the suspect to obtain more information, especially on the source of the heroin, Aritonang said. (04/cst)