T

he Central Java Provincial National Narcotics Agency (BNNP) arrested three inmates allegedly involved in a drug-dealing ring amid a crackdown on the rampant drug problems at the Kedungpane penitentiary in Semarang, Central Java.

During the raid, a Central Java Police officer was also detained for allegedly using drugs.

The operation began when BNNP investigators caught two men — identified as HPW, who is a police officer, and GS — after they took a package containing 1 gram of crystal methamphetamine from under a tree at the side of a street.

Based on the finding, the investigators searched HPW’s rented home where they found drug paraphernalia. The raid led to the arrest of two men, identified as AS and S, who were the drug couriers and had placed the drugs under the tree.

The investigators later discovered that the drug-dealing ring was controlled by three inmates — SYI, A, and YPSD — currently detained at the Kedungpane penitentiary.

SYI is a suspect in a drug-related case and is still awaiting trial, while A was convicted in a drug-related case and sentenced to four years in prison. YPSD is a convict who was set to be released in a month.

During the raid at the Kedungpane Penitentiary, BNN found 5 ecstasy pills, debit card and cell phones.

“There are a total of seven people accused of being involved in this case and they all use drugs. We are still investigating the role of each suspect,” said Central Java BNNP head Soetarmono.

He said that the inmates would usually receive orders by phone before contacting with their couriers to make deliveries. The recipients, however, did not meet the couriers in-person.

“There has to be the mastermind out there behind all of this,” he said, adding that if the seven men were found guilty, they might face five years in prison, while the drug users would be sent to a rehab center.

This year, Soetarmono said, his office and the Law and Human Rights Ministry officers had conducted three sweeps at the penitentiary, but drug-dealing had remained an issue.

In each raid, they seized at least 160 cell phones from the inmates.

Separately, Yudho Sujono, head of the regional service subdirectorate at the Law and Human Rights Ministry, said that there might be correction officers involved in a drug-smuggling ring in the prison.

The officers, he continued, likely smuggled cell phones and drugs into the penitentiary for drug operation purposes.

Meanwhile, head of profession and security at the Central Java Police, Sr. Comr. Alex Alim Rewos, said that HPW might have violated the code of ethics and would be punished if found guilty of using drugs.