Mechanic arrested in ecstasy ring

The Jakarta police have arrested a mechanic for modifying a machine so that it could produce ecstasy pills from amphetamine powder, police spokesman Sr. Comr. Boy Rafli Amar said Monday.

The suspect, identified only by the initials JJH and UW, was arrested last Wednesday in a house on Jl. Malioboro in Kalideres, West Jakarta, where the police found the machine, chemical ingredients and a stencil used for marking the pills.

“The electric pill maker can produce around 3,000 pills an hour. But JJH claimed that he produced only 8,000 pills a month, worth around Rp 1.2 trillion [US$133.2 million],” Boy said, adding that ecstasy pills usually fetched Rp 150,000 each on the market.

The police said they had also found ecstasy pills, crystal methamphetamine (locally known as shabu-shabu) and chemical ingredients at the suspect’s house on Jl. Jembatan Gambang in Penjaringan, North Jakarta.

The police said they had been informed about JJH by a suspect identified as A who was arrested on July 8 at the Bougenville Apartment complex in Cengkareng, West Jakarta.

Boy said the investigation was ongoing and also named another suspect in the case who was still at large, by the initials FZ. (ipa)