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Police confident drug-abuse rates will decrease
The Jakarta Police are confident that the drug-abuse rate has declined in the city despite the fact that Jakarta is home to the highest percentage of drug abusers per population according to the National Narcotics Agency (BNN)
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he Jakarta Police are confident that the drug-abuse rate has declined in the city despite the fact that Jakarta is home to the highest percentage of drug abusers per population according to the National Narcotics Agency (BNN).
Jakarta Police narcotics directorate head Sr. Comr. Eko Daniyanto told reporters on Thursday that the police had solved 3,755 drug-related cases between January and September.
'Unlike the BNN, we evaluate the city's situation on a case-by-case basis. Last year we solved 5,042 cases. This means there is around a 2,000 case difference and we only have two months left in the year,' he said.
According to 2011 data from BNN, up to 491,848 people, or 7 percent out of 7.02 million people registered with the Jakarta administration, abused drugs. The Riau Islands followed with 44,941, or 4.3 percent, out of 1.04 million people.
Eko claimed that the decrease was due to the unit's efforts to shut down international drug trafficking rings despite their limited personnel of 200 officers.
'We have arrested drug traffickers with international links in places like Hong Kong and Malaysia. This helped cut down the supply,' he said.
Head of the narcotics directorate's investigation monitoring sub-directorate, Adj. Sr. Comr. Sri Hastuti, told The Jakarta Post that her sub-directorate evaluated the police precincts within their jurisdiction on a monthly basis.
According to the police's most recent data, the West Jakarta Police solved the most drug-related cases between January and September with 679 cases.
Separately, BNN head Comr. Gen. Anang Iskandar said that he applauded the police's efforts to eradicate drug trafficking but emphasized that investigators must make sure drug users would not be charged with articles from the Narcotics Law that would send them to prison instead of rehabilitation centers.
'Rehabilitation is the key to decreasing the number of drug users because if they are just detained, they will still be addicted to drugs when they are released,' he said.
Eko said that many of the arrested drug abusers were also drug dealers, or had sold drugs before.
'The drug abusers are not always innocent. In the end, the judges have the authority to decide whether they are handed down prison sentences or sent to rehabilitation centers,' he said. (fss)
