Garuda pilot and drug case

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