Police declare war on pornography
JAKARTA (JP): City police have declared war against pornographic material and sex aids sold at clandestine shops. They urge the public to assist by giving information on the whereabouts of shops selling such items.
"We all know those things benefit only greedy traders without a thought of the impact on the public, particularly teenagers," head of the Operational Affairs Unit of the On-the-Alert City Police Squad Capt. Syaiful Bd. told The Jakarta Post yesterday.
According to him, the increasing number of pornography either in magazines, calendars, laser discs or computer diskettes, and sex aids being sold clandestinely in and around the city could be reduced further "if the public and all related parties really wanted to do so."
"It's an easy job, as long as all of us play a positive role in our raids," said Syaiful, who often personally leads raids against various crimes.
Information
The public, for instance, could provide information on places believed to sell pornographic items, he said.
"We absolutely believe that those things can badly tear down all norms of our society," he explained.
The latest raid, conducted by Syaiful's team, was against three drug stores, which were allegedly sex shops, on Jl. Dewi Sartika, East Jakarta, on Friday evening.
"We received information from the public and directly ordered our teams, code named Walet (Swallow), to locate and monitor the places," he said.
Later, Syaiful and his officers in plainclothes surveyed the shops by posing as potential customers.
During the raid at Caseng, Patent and Aseng drug stores, the police detained all shop attendants and seized hundreds of sex aids, ranging from oil stimulants, capsules and stimulators. The merchandise was priced between Rp 30,000 (US$13.80) and Rp 100,000.
None of the shop owners were arrested due to their whereabouts being unknown.
The three shop attendants are in police custody and will be further questioned.
No definite information could be gained about the source of the articles, but many believe most of the items are smuggled into the city by the crew of local and foreign ships and planes.
"We just hope the case can be tried soon in order to teach a lesson to others," Syaiful concluded. (bsr)