Police confiscate, destroy traditional herbs

PURWOKERTO: Banyumas Police officers on Friday incinerated more than 200,000 sachets of traditional herbs they claimed contained hazardous chemical substances.

The herbs were confiscated from home industry centers in Cilacap and Banymas.

"We have been closely monitoring the activities of the herb producers. We have frequently cracked down on them but they keep coming back. We will continue efforts to eliminate these dangerous herbs," Sr. Comr. Mahfud Arifin, deputy director of the National Police's detective and criminal unit, said.

He said police arrested seven herb producers in 2009 and had submitted the case to the Attorney General's Office.

Supriyanto Utomo, head of the Central Java Food and Drug Monitoring Agency, said that the chemical substances contained in the herbs included paracetamol, dexamethasone, acetaminophen, chloropheniramine and metrazone. - JP