Police arrest suspects, drugs still sold

Police arrest suspects, drugs still sold

Rendi A. Witular, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The City police uncovered 160 drug cases and arrested 191
suspected drug users and dealers in Greater Jakarta from Feb. 24
to March 22.

Of the suspects, 113 were categorized as drug dealers.
However, none of the cases of these suspects, five of whom are
college students, have reached the courts.

The police also seized 7,418.6 grams of marijuana, 382.7 grams
of heroin, 5,596.5 grams of crystal methamphetamine, 3,464
ecstasy pills and 845 barbiturate pills over this period.

Adj. Sr. Comr. Abdullah, the deputy chief of detectives for
the Jakarta Police, said during a press conference on Monday the
police considered three of these cases as being the most
important.

The first concerns Obi Jadu Christopher Chidozie, a Nigerian
who was arrested at the Aston Hotel in Central Jakarta on March
2. He was arrested with 1,110 grams of liquid heroin, 71.5 grams
of brown heroin, 20.3 grams of white heroin and 49.5 grams of
other drugs.

"We consider the arrest a success because our officers managed
to seize the evidence and the criminal, who is an expatriate," he
said.

The second main case was the arrest of Sutrisno Karjo Usodo,
alias Nick, on March 11, along with his wife Elly Roth. The
police seized four grams of crystal methamphetamine from the
couple.

Nick earlier had been sentenced to 12 years in jail by the
South Jakarta District Court after being found guilty of
possession of drugs with an intent to sell. He had been arrested
on May 2, 2000, in possession of 590 grams of crystal
methamphetamine, 1,863 ecstasy pills, four grams of marijuana, an
FN 45 gun and seven bullets.

He escaped from Salemba Penitentiary on Jan. 19, 2002.

The third main case involves Malaysian national Roje Juan
Linggam, who was arrested by customs and excise officials and
police officers at the Soekarno-Hatta International Airport on
March 12.

The police seized 4,500 grams of crystal methamphetamine which
the suspect allegedly was attempting to smuggle into Jakarta from
China. The drugs were discovered hidden inside decorative lamps.

The head of the city police's narcotics unit, Sr. Adj. Comr.
Carlo B. Tewu, said drug use by Jakartans had reached dangerous
levels.

"The target of our next operation will be users and dealers in
every penitentiary across Greater Jakarta, state offices and
other institutions such as schools and colleges," he said.

According to the officer, the operation at schools and
universities will have three stages -- prevention, punishment and
rehabilitation.

Despite the arrests made during this latest anti-narcotics
operation, there are still areas of the city where drugs remain
easily obtainable.

In Pondok Aren, Tangerang, buying marijuana is almost as easy
as buying candy at a kiosk.

"At least five marijuana dealers operate freely here. For
just Rp 5,000 (50 US cents) you can buy a baggie of marijuana,"
Nico, an unemployed 21-year-old local resident, told The Jakarta
Post.

"Each baggie is enough to make three marijuana cigarettes. If
you pay Rp 20,000, the dealer will give you a discount by letting
you grab a handful," said Nico, who has been smoking marijuana
for seven years.