New heights in Ecstasy

The Ecstasy menace in Indonesia is escalating to new heights.

Just in the past week, immigration authorities foiled an attempt to smuggle more than 70,000 pills by two Singaporeans through Jakarta's Soekarno-Hatta International Airport. Customs officials discovered a package containing tens of thousands of the pills at a post office in Jakarta. In Surabaya, police raided a house where a family allegedly ran an operation producing and distributing Ecstasy pills. They seized over 3,800 pills and 2.3 kilograms of a substance used to produce Ecstasy. Police in Batam seized more than 4,700 pills from a syndicate involving Indonesians and Singaporeans.

Smugglers, producers and sellers are growing in number and becoming more daring in their methods. They are making a mockery of the massive police campaign against Ecstasy.

The police say their total Ecstasy haul this year has reached nearly 240,000 pills, seized from traffickers, producers and users. But just like the AIDS menace, official figures represent only the tip of the iceberg. One can only imagine how many hundreds of thousands, or probably millions, have escaped detection and found their way to users.

The busts at the airport in Jakarta and in Batam confirmed the suspicion that international syndicates are working with local operators. The sheer size of the Soekarno-Hatta bust also suggests that Indonesia is a major market for the drug. Judging by the small number of Ecstasy traffickers that have been convicted here, Indonesia looks like easy prey for foreign and local drug syndicates.

While we salute the police for their tireless campaign against the abuse of psychotropic drugs, they do not appear to have the support of other law enforcement bodies. State prosecutors are demanding light punishments for distributors. Such leniency was witnessed at a court case in Tangerang last week when prosecutors sought 10 months for two men accused of distributing more than 60,000 Ecstasy pills. Judges appear to be a little too cautious and are meting out light sentences.

The absence of a strong law to deal with Ecstasy traffickers is undermining the police's anti-Ecstasy campaign. Prosecutors and judges who play strictly by the book are resorting to a 1992 Health Law article banning the production and distribution of unregistered drugs. The maximum penalty is 15 years imprisonment. Given the propensity of prosecutors and judges not to go for the maximum punishment, Ecstasy peddlers can be sure to get off lightly -- if they get caught.

Even the House of Representatives appears to be napping. The government-sponsored bill on psychotropics was submitted last September and legislators have yet to start deliberating it. Approval of the bill would allow police to deal much more effectively with the Ecstasy menace, yet it is unlikely that it will be passed before House members break for Christmas and New Year's recess. House members seem to think the bill is not a priority compared to the nuclear bill and the broadcasting bill.

Until the House passes a law that deals more effectively with Ecstasy abuses, Indonesia will remain a heaven for international and local drug syndicates. Strong legislation is still the best and probably the only way of containing the menace.

In the absence of such a law, the authorities will continue to resort to desperate and somewhat unnecessary tactics, like raids on and closures of discotheques. While we could do without some of these excessive measures, we hope the police will continue with their campaign. Even if they are going it alone, it at least highlights the grave problem our nation is facing.