Unemployed man nabbed on Ecstasy charge

Unemployed man nabbed on Ecstasy charge

JAKARTA (JP): Police have arrested an unemployed man for
alleged possession and trafficking in Ecstasy and the
amphetamine-derivative shabu-shabu, an official said Saturday.

Jakarta Police Narcotics Unit officers picked up Adrianus
Adam, 42, at his boardinghouse on Jl. Hayam Wuruk, Central
Jakarta, on Friday, said deputy chief of the city police
detective unit Lt. Col. Bakat Purwanto.

"The tips on his activities were from nearby residents. He was
under our surveillance for quite a long time."

Police seized 1,049 Ecstasy pills and 60 grams of shabu-shabu
hidden in a drawer in his bedroom, Aritonang said.

"A plainclothes officer pretended to be a buyer and we caught
him red-handed selling Ecstasy pills to the officer."

Adrianus is believed to have been part of a drug-trafficking
network operating on college campuses and in discotheques, Bakat
added.

"When we arrested him Friday at about 5 p.m., he seemed
surprised but regained his calm quickly."

He said he had been involved in drug dealing for about two
years.

"We're currently getting more information from him."

During the first six months of this year alone, the Jakarta
Police Narcotics Unit has reportedly arrested at least 65
suspected drug users, traffickers and suppliers.

Five of the suspects have been shot to death during raids.

Forty-five kilograms of marijuana, four cannabis samplings,
150 grams of putauw (low-grade heroin), 7.5 kilograms of shabu-
shabu, 780 grams of cocaine and about 1,800 Ecstasy pills have
reportedly been confiscated during the period.

People convicted in drug cases are subject to at least five
years in prison plus a Rp 50 million fine under the Psychotropic
Drugs Law No.5/1997.

Bakat said illegal drug transactions seemed to be growing
despite the crisis.

"The drug business will keep on running because it has special
consumers, that is drug addicts or users, that are willing to do
anything to buy it.

"The most dangerous part is that because it is hard to get
money these days... drug users are desperate enough to commit
crimes and this is contributing to the high number of crimes
these days." (edt)