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)