Police reveal another prison drug ring

Multa Fidrus and Theresia Sufa, The Jakarta Post, Tangerang/Bogor

As the family's breadwinner had been jailed since September on drug charges, his wife decided to take over the business last month to feed their two children.

And she didn't have to go far to get a supply of putaw (low grade heroin).

Her husband introduced the 32-year-woman to his inmate in Salemba penitentiary, identified as Buluk, from whom she could get the supply.

The woman just had to call the cellular phone of another inmate, Rizky, who would later arrange a meeting with their contact outside the prison, identified as Uga.

Based on a tipoff, Tangerang Police arrested the woman and Uga and seized 12 grams of putaw from the suspects last week, director of the drug squad Comr. Sutrisno revealed on Monday.

The police deployed detectives to pose as buyers and bought one gram of putaw for Rp 580,000 from the woman on Nov. 26.

According to the woman, she got Rp 100,000 for each package she sold.

The police ordered another nine packages, or 12 grams from her four days later. As she handed over the drugs, the police arrested her and interrogated her.

The woman helped the office contact the drug ring on Dec. 1 and arranged a meeting on Jl. Merdeka for a transaction of 25 grams of putaw.

"But we were only able to arrest Uga. Another accomplice, Ucup, who was holding the drugs we ordered managed to escape," Sutrisno added.

The police said they would cooperate with Jakarta Police for further investigation.

Meanwhile in Bogor, the Bogor Prosecutor's Office asked the Cibinong District Court on Monday to delay the trial of four workers of the ecstasy factory in Jasinga district, Bogor.

The fourth in one month, the delay was meant to give more time for the prosecutors to prepare the sentence proposal.

"We haven't received the recommendation of the sentence proposal from the West Java Prosecutor's Office," said prosecutor Widodo, who got approval for a week's extension from presiding judge Edison Mohamad.

Two of the defendants, Sutaman and Harwanto were workers in the ecstasy factory which produced hundreds of the illegal psychotropic pills in one day, while Bangkit Satrio and Bertje Albert Jhon Bessie were hired to compound the substances.

The police arrested the four in October and are still hunting down the factory owner.