Two drug hot spots raided, 17 arrested

Indah Setiawati ,  The Jakarta Post ,  Jakarta   |  Wed, 08/20/2008 10:20 AM  |  City

Police in cooperation with the Provincial Narcotics Agency (BNP) and City Narcotics Agency (BNK) raided houses on JL. Menteng Tenggulun and Jl. Pegangsaan in Central Jakarta, on Tuesday morning.

Police arrested a total of 17 people and confiscated drugs, including heroin and crystal methampethamine, BNP head of narcotics control unit Adj. Sr. Comr. Sigit Gumantyo told reporters.

"The heroin and white crystal prove that the drugs circulating in the area must involve international drug rings as they are not produced in this country. We suspect that the heroin came from Afghanistan, while the white crystal came from Asian countries, including China, Laos and Thailand," he said.

The police report said they seized 55 packages of narcotics, two packages of marijuana, a package of crystal methampethamine -- known as shabu-shabu, 56 ecstasy pills, one electric scale, insulin, cash and a dagger.

The arrested suspects, including a family of four, later underwent urine tests at the city police headquarters, nine of whom were tested as drugs positive.

Sigit said they only found narcotics on one of the family members, but arrested the whole family following a tip-off that all of them were alleged to be dealers.

"Up to now, the parents haven't admitted to involvement in drug distribution. They only said that they knew one of their children was a drug addict," he said.

Police confiscated five packages of heroin from one family member, Moh. Rezi, 20 and found that his urine test proved drugs positive, the police report said.

Meanwhile, the parents and their 13-year-old daughter had negative urine tests.

Sigit said that police were still questioning arrested suspects who lived in Menteng Tenggulun and Pegangsaan, both reputed to be among the main drug spots in the city.

"Some areas have a small number of drug dealers who sell drugs to people from outside their neighborhood, but in these two areas drug dealers and users live alongside each other," he said.

He said that data from a nearby health center in Menteng Tenggulun, confirmed that as many as 140 residents had died of drug abuse since 2003.

This means that on average 23 people died in the area every year because of drug abuse.

"The death toll is not only worrying. It has reached emergency level," Sigit said.

He said he appreciated the involvement of city residents in combating drug trafficking in their areas.

"Residents in UKI (Indonesian Christian University) area, for example, are very supportive in trying to clean up their area," he said, adding that dealers who used to sell heroin in front of UKI had now moved to Cakung, East Jakarta.

Other drug spots in the city include Kampung Ambon in East Jakarta, Boncos in West Jakarta, Kampung Bali in Central Jakarta, Warakas in North Jakarta and Bendi in Tanah Kusir, South Jakarta, Sigit said.

Copyright © 2008 The Jakarta Post - PT Bina Media Tenggara. All Rights Reserved.