Four held after major Ecstasy bust at airport
JAKARTA (JP): A joint team of police officers and customs officials have arrested three men and a woman, on separate occasions last week for their part in the attempt to smuggle 60,778 ecstasy pills -- worth more than US$1 million in the streets -- into the country.
"The four are members of a Netherlands-Indonesia drug trafficking syndicate," head of Jakarta police detectives Col. Paimin Abuamar said during a press meeting here yesterday.
"At least two other people are still at large for their alleged roles in the illicit business," said Paimin, accompanied by head of Jakarta narcotic police division Lt. Col. Dik Dik and spokesman Lt. Col. Iman Haryatna.
The three men are identified by their initials as RW, RS, JI and the woman as OS.
According to Paimin, the four suspects were arrested a few days ago on separate occasions, following the discovery of 60,778 ecstasy pills in a bag on a flight originating from the Netherlands by custom officials at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport here on April 28.
Searching for clues from the baggage tag, police then arrested RW at the Zodiac discotheque located at the Glodok Plaza building in West Jakarta during the early morning hours of May 3.
The discotheque, which can accommodate more than 10,000 people, has been mentioned by some local residents as a haven for ecstasy users.
"Based on RW's tips, we nabbed RS and OS at the Hotel Ibis Arcadia at Menteng in Central Jakarta on the same day," Paimin said.
JA was apprehended at his home in Rawamangun four days later.
During police questioning, RW said that he was hired to carry the pills, to be sold for Rp 1,500 each, from the Netherlands to Soekarno-Hatta airport by two Dutch nationals named Freddy and Yo, Paimin said.
"As he arrived at the airport, RW took only two of his three bags in an attempt to dispatch the other bag to the Lost & Found section, at which location OS and JI were expected to collect it, based on the information provided by RS," Paimin said.
According to detective Dik Dik, the pills consist of a wide variety of brands and colors, including Green Purple, Yellow Purple, Pink Lady, Apple, Mercy and RN.
"We had been spying on these four suspects since the debut of ecstasy in this country in the early 1990s," Dik Dik said.
"But we have no information about their accomplices in the Netherlands," he added.
Dik Dik said that RW is charged for trafficking the drugs, which have not been registered with the Ministry of Health as stipulated in Article 80, subarticle IV of the 1992 Law of Health No. 23 issued in 1992.
The other three will be charged for their participation in the crime, Dik Dik said.
The charges carry a maximum prison term of 15 years and fines of up to Rp 300 million.
According to Indonesian law, ecstasy users cannot be prosecuted.
The number of people arrested at the Soekarno-Hatta airport for smuggling in ecstasy pills has significantly increased in the past few months.
Late last month, a Dutch woman was nabbed while trying to smuggle 11,370 ecstasy pills into the country. Earlier that month, a Dutch man was charged with trying to bring in over 7,000 pills, which have become popular among youngsters and discotheque patrons.
On March 29, a local woman was arrested at the airport and charged with possessing more than 9,000 ecstasy pills from Amsterdam. (bsr)