Police burn ganja, heroin

Police destroyed by fire at least 974.5 kilograms of marijuana and 340 grams of pure heroin, confiscated from May until September this year, on Friday.

Jakarta Police chief of detectives Col. Alex Bambang Riatmodjo said on Friday the Criminal Code stipulated that law enforcement agencies were required to destroy any dangerous or poisonous goods seized as soon as suspects were arrested.

He cited Article 45 of the Criminal Code and Article 53 of Law No. 5/1997 on psychotropic drugs.

In fact, the law states that police or other law enforcement officials must destroy drugs seven days after their confiscation.

The burning of the contraband on Friday morning released a sickly sweet odor which forced many onlooking police officers to tightly cover their noses.

"This is so bad. I feel a really bad headache coming on ... I'm going back to my office to rest for a while," South Jakarta Police detectives chief Capt. Rycko Amelza Daniel said.

A minor incident occurred when a high-ranking officer ordered a body search of a reporter who he spotted taking a small packet of marijuana.

"They did not find anything on him. He had stashed it in the vest of a reporter friend who quietly left the scene when nobody was looking," said another reporter who requested anonymity.

City police chief Maj. Gen. Noegroho Djajoesman said the burning of the contraband was to refute accusations that seized drugs were later resold by the police to users and dealers.

"People say we use drugs for financial gain, including to fund the police force. This burning of drugs should shut people up once and for all," Noegroho said. (ylt)