New heights in Ecstasy

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.