Police to build new cells for drug offenders

JAKARTA: The police are constructing a new detention center to cope with the rising number of drug offenders.

City Police Chief Insp. Gen. Makbul Padmanagara laid on Tuesday the foundation stone of the new detention center, which would consist of 40 cells for drug-related criminals.

The new detention building is built especially for victims or small drug traffickers.

Police allocated Rp 7.5 billion (US$872,000) to construct the new detention center.

Makbul said that in the 1980s, drug offenders accounted only five percent of those detained at police headquarters but now accounted for 50 percent. --JP