Police bust fellow cop for 900 ecstasy pills

Abdul Khalik and Sandy Darmosumarto, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The police announced on Wednesday the arrest of a middle-ranking officer for alleged involvement in drug trafficking.

Jakarta Police spokesman Sr. Comr. Prasetyo said the arrest was made on Sunday evening at a supermarket in Kebon Jeruk, West Jakarta, where 900 ecstasy pills were confiscated from the suspect.

"Based on a tipoff, undercover detectives arrested Comr. Puja Laksana, 38, who is an investigator with the National Police anticorruption unit," he said, adding that the detectives had posed as buyers.

Information from the suspect led the police to arrest a woman, identified as Lina Harahap, 43, whom the police officer got the drugs from.

The detectives found a small paper bag of 900 ecstasy pills on the seat of his car.

The interrogation of the two was not yet over late on Wednesday.

"We are interrogating them intensively to find out who is the leader and whether there is a bigger group of dealers linked to the two," said Prasetyo.

National Police chief Gen. Da'i Bachtiar confirmed that one of his officers had been arrested for drug trafficking. However, he did not reveal the identity of the arrested officer.

Recently two undercover police officers, who were working on uncovering a big drug syndicate, were shot in the leg by a policeman on patrol. Aside from the blunder, such operations reflect a crack down by police on drug trafficking.

In a recent survey, non-governmental organization Police Watch has highlighted the increasing number of cases of policemen involved in crime. It revealed that many police personnel have been involved in robbery, thuggery, gambling and drug trafficking.

The survey showed that, in 2003 alone, there were 14 drug cases where police personnel were implicated. Several of the cases have been handed over to the prosecutors and are ready to be brought to court.