Garuda pilot and drug case

I refer to the case of the Garuda pilot nabbed in Amsterdam for attempting to carry 8,000 Ecstasy pills out of Holland with the obvious aim of bringing them into and having them distributed and sold within Indonesia.

Ironically, there have been no official statements by the Indonesian authorities showing any kind of appreciation to the Dutch government for the apprehension of the pilot. This seems ironic especially when one considers that the arrest itself does not benefit Holland in the least.

On the contrary, continued smuggling and trafficking of the drug could result in increased demand for Ecstasy among Indonesian youth. Simply letting that pilot and others continue to "export" these pills and other drugs into Indonesia might even benefit the economy there by providing employment and resulting in an influx of funds from Indonesia into Holland.

What's more, the incident seems to highlight a complete lack of capability on the part of customs officials at Indonesian ports (assuming the pilot has been doing this for some time), whose job it is to stop all importation of narcotics and other drugs.

Ironically, the press and the government officials here insist on only criticizing the Dutch authorities for, as yet, unproven bodily harm inflicted on the pilot. If, indeed, such physical abuse is proven, only then should the Indonesian authorities have any right to protest.

On a further matter, I strongly hope that the pilot and any others found to be involved in this case will be tried in Holland for two main reasons. First, foreigners caught in this country for peddling, selling and using narcotics are seldom, if ever, extradited back to their home countries to stand trial. Second, the justice system here, as we all know, has an abundance of "procedural" and "legal" defects which would almost certainly result in the pilot facing an very uncertain future.

It will be interesting to see how the case progresses.

PETER LAW

Jakarta