Safer to sell illegal drugs in the open, suspects say

Damar Harsanto, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Public places are the best places to make drug transactions, according to two suspects arrested recently for allegedly dealing drugs.

Sugiyono, alias Akai, was arrested by Central Jakarta police detectives on Wednesday at 5 p.m. He had been waiting for Ahmad Suryadi alias Sandro at a bus shelter in front of the Matraman Police subprecinct. Ahmad, a suspected drug dealer, was arrested by police on Monday at 7 p.m. at his house in West Cempaka Putih, Central Jakarta, before being used as a plant to bring about Sugiyono's arrest.

Police seized a kilogram of marijuana from Sugiyono.

Sugiyono said he obtained the marijuana from a drug dealer named Hasan who is still at large.

Ahmad, who had previously worked as an ojek (motorcycle taxi) driver, said that he usually used public places for his transactions.

"The places (of transactions) are decided randomly and we move from one place to another to avoid the police," he said.

Among the public places that he mentioned were hospitals parking lots, shopping centers and markets.

Central Jakarta Police Precinct chief, Sr. Comr. Sukrawardi Dahlan, called on the public to keep a watchful eye while in public places and report suspected drug dealers to the police.

Sukrawardi said that the way in which the marijuana, seized from Sugiyono, was wrapped indicated that it was from Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam as it was similar to packages uncovered in past investigations .

Drug-related crimes are the third largest reported in the capital, after auto theft and burglary. As of June this year, 1,012 drug cases had been reported to the police. Last year, 2,642 cases were reported, a jump of 44 percent, against 1,831 cases in 2001.