Police seize more Ecstasy pills from a Dutch suspect
Police seize more Ecstasy pills from a Dutch suspect
JAKARTA (JP): The police announced on Thursday that they had seized 5,315 more Ecstasy pills of different types and prices from a Dutch national who was arrested with 1,000 pills in his possession the previous day.
The pills could fetch around Rp 400 million (US$173,500) through illicit transactions here.
According to the head of the City Police Detectives, Col. Adang Rismanto, the 5,135 pills were seized at the suspect's rented house in Petamburan, West Jakarta, at around 11.30 p.m. Wednesday.
The Dutch national, F. Laurens Hendrikus, 56, a consultant at a cement factory here, was caught red-handed by plain-clothes detectives selling 1,000 Ecstasy pills earlier in the afternoon at a hotel in Central Jakarta.
"This man is a shrewd Ecstasy dealer," Adang said. "We had kept a close watch on him for several months," he added.
Adang said the Dutchman carefully selected his new customers and places of transactions.
"In most cases, he chose places outside the city as the meeting places for his new buyers," he said.
A great number of his customers have been identified by the police. "We'll arrest them as soon as we've collected more evidence about their roles," Adang said.
He said officers are still investigating whether the man is part of an international drugs trafficking syndicate.
Based on preliminary investigations, Hendrikus has been in the country for about two years, Adang said.
During police interrogation, Hendrikus said that he bought the Ecstasy pills, the most famous hallucination illegal drug in Jakarta, from friends in the Netherlands.
The 6,135 pills confiscated were white, brown and pink and had a variety of names, such as Apple Sunkist (1,800 pills), Snow White I (1,800 pills), Snow White II (400 pills) and Dollar (500 pills), Adang said.
According to police data, the price of the pills ranges from Rp 40,000 to Rp 80,000 each, depending on the type.
Besides the pills, the police also seized two handphones and a radio beeper from the suspect.
The police charged the Dutchman with possessing and selling drugs that have not been registered at the Ministry of Health as stipulated in Article 80 sub-article IV of the Law of Health No. 23 issued in 1992.
"If found guilty, the suspect will face a maximum prison term of 15 years and a maximum fine of Rp 300 million," said Lt. Col. Dikdik, the newly-appointed head of the Jakarta police narcotics division.
Adang promised to complete the trial dossier on the suspect as quickly as possible.
"We have informed the Dutch embassy here about the arrest," he said.
A few days ago, detectives from the National Police Headquarters and officers from Customs and Excise arrested a man and woman for possessing 711 Ecstasy pills and 9,024 pills respectively at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport. (bsr)