Official faced with dismissal for drugs

JAKARTA (JP): An immigration official currently detained for alleged drug abuse is facing dismissal, Director General of Immigration M. Mudakir said on Friday.

Mudakir said the official, Muhammad Hidayat, would lose his job if the court found him guilty of using and selling drugs that he stole from his office.

When arrested on Monday night, police found one gram of shabu- shabu (crystal methamphetamine) in his hotel room in Central Jakarta. Hidayat told the police he was in charge of intelligence in his office.

Mudakir said the suspect had been temporarily posted to the Jakarta Ministry of Justice and Human Rights office since September after serving in the Soekarno-Hatta Airport immigration office for six years.

Hidayat, Mudakir said, had a bad track record and had faced disciplinary action in July after taking a three-month unauthorized leave of absence.

"He (Hidayat) also frequently did things which tarnished the immigration office's image," he said without elaborating.

Mudakir asserted that he would not hesitate to take stern measures against other officers who violated the civil service code of conduct.

He had also instructed a mandatory drug test on immigration officers across the country, following Hidayat's arrest.

"The test is aimed at finding out whether or not immigration officers are using drugs," he said.(01)