Police learn of ecstasy smuggling in hollow books

Dicky Christanto ,  The Jakarta Post ,  Denpasar   |  Fri, 04/18/2008 10:05 AM  |  Bali

The Bali police have confiscated 692 ecstasy pills and arrested an alleged drug dealer believed to be a part of a syndicate, police said Wednesday.

Bali police spokesperson Adj. Sr. Comr. Sri Harmiti said Lukman Nulchak was arrested while trying to claim a book shipment full of ecstasy pills at a courier agency's office in Denpasar. The package had been sent from Jakarta by a man identified only as LL, with the drugs hidden in hollowed-out books.

"Right now we, in cooperation with the Jakarta Police, are developing an investigation to find other dealers on the island that work for this LL," she said as quoted by Antara, adding that the method of smuggling was new to police.

"We have to say that this new method is quite effective as people can hardly see what is actually inside the thick book."

Lukman is being detained by the Bali Police for further questioning.

Harmiti said Lukman had admitted to receiving similar packages several times before, earning a profit of around Rp 25,000 from each ecstasy pill that he sold for Rp 150,000.

Many have said drug dealers have long viewed the resort island as a market for drugs due to the many nightclubs. Head of the Anti-Narcotics National Movement (Granat) Bali chapter Erfian Zufry Eddy has said around 1,500 to 2,000 ecstasy pills are smuggled to the island every day, many from Jakarta and Surabaya.

"And this number could easily increase if we don't strictly monitor it. That is why we cooperate with other institutions like the police and customs agency to battle the distribution of these pills on the island," he told The Jakarta Post.

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