Police seize 8,400 ecstasy pills

National Police detectives have arrested the owner of a clandestine drug laboratory which manufactured ecstasy pills by the thousand on Jl. KH. Hasyim Ashari No. 29, KM 1, Cipondoh, Tangerang.

The suspect, whom police identified as Ang Kiem Soei alias Anche Tahir alias Kim Ho, 31, was arrested on Sunday. Pursued by drug detectives since 1998, he is believed to hold both a Dutch passport and an Indonesian identification card, which was reportedly issued in Irian Jaya.

Police seized about 8,400 ecstasy pills from the laboratory, along with illicit chemicals used in the making of the pills.

National Police deputy spokesman Brig. Gen. Edward Aritonang said in Jakarta on Monday that thousands of pills could be produced in a day, and the takings from their sale in nightclubs and discos could reach hundreds of billions of rupiah per month.

The laboratory, where Ang Kiem himself lived, had three main rooms, which were all used to produce the pills.

The materials seized from the laboratory included Methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA), which is Ecstasy in powder form before it is made into a capsule or pill. MDMA is a synthetic, psychoactive drug possessing stimulant and hallucinogenic properties.

MDMA's effects last approximately between four and six hours. Users of the drug say that it produces profoundly positive feelings, empathy for others, elimination of anxiety and extreme relaxation.

MDMA is also said to suppress the need to eat, drink, or sleep, enabling users to endure two- to three-day parties.

Consequently, MDMA use sometimes resulted in severe dehydration or exhaustion. It is most often distributed at late- night parties called "raves," nightclubs and rock concerts. -- JP