Inmates run drug ring from prison in Bali

Wahyoe Boediwardhana, The Jakarta Post, Denpasar, Bali

A four-day undercover police operation crushed a drug ring that was operating out of the tightly guarded cells of Kerobokan Penitentiary, Bali's largest detention facility.

Police arrested on Tuesday three inmates for allegedly running the drug ring, and seized 348 high-grade ecstasy pills worth Rp 52.2 million (US$5,800).

The inmates were identified as Ketut Arya Wijaya, 32, Yusminar, 35, and Surakandi, 37, who are all serving sentences for various drug offenses.

Also arrested were Surakandi's 19-year-old son, Kadek Herman Suryana, as well as Gede Sudarma and Dewa Ayu Karmila Dewi. Police suspected these three stored and distributed the drugs.

"On Sunday, the inmates facilitated a drug transaction of 23 ecstasy pills worth Rp 2.9 million," said Denpasar police narcotics detective Comr. Faisal Thayeb on Tuesday. "Unfortunately for them, the buyer was an undercover detective."

He said the police did not expect to uncover a drug ring run from a prison during their undercover operation on drug dealers.

The police approached Kaded Herman, who they suspected of being a middleman for drug transactions.

Kaded led the undercover detective, who was posing as a buyer, to inmate Arya Wijaya to negotiate the price of 23 ecstasy pills. Arya told the "buyer" to return in three days with the payment, in exchange for information on where to obtain the pills.

When the "buyer" returned on the agreed day, Arya gave him Karmila Dewi's contact number who, in turn, told him where to meet Sudarma to conclude the deal.

Sudarma handed over the 23 pills, packed in matchboxes, to the undercover detective. He was arrested on the spot.

Based on information from Sudarma, the police began to retrace the contraband goods to its supplier. This led them to Karmila Dewi and Kadek Herman, who led them to Arya Wijaya in Kerobokan Penitentiary.

Arya confessed that he had received the ecstasy pills from fellow inmates Yusminar and Surakandi, who told police that the pills were leftovers from an earlier supply. The three claimed this was the only time they had sold drugs from the jail.

"From Sudarma, we seized 23 orange-colored ecstasy pills, and from Karmila Dewi's house in Kuta, we confiscated 325 ecstasy pills," Faisal said.

The police also searched the prison cells of the three inmates and found the money given to Arya to pay for the 23 ecstasy pills. Inmates are not allowed to carry money in prison.

The banknotes had been photocopied earlier by the police, so they could be used as evidence against suspects' claims that they had not obtained the money through a drug deal.

However, police found only Rp 2 million of the Rp 2.9 million that was given to Arya, with the balance unaccounted for.

Faisal said that so far, the police had found no indication of the penitentiary guards' involvement.

Kerobokan Penitentiary warden Dedi Sutardi said he was deeply disturbed by the incident and promised to investigate into the matter.

"I am in Jakarta now. I will try to find out why my men were so careless, and those who were responsible will be punished," he said.