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Jakarta Post

Police claim Nunung used drugs for 20 years

Police claim Nunung said she was influenced by her colleagues from work back when she started her career in Surakarta, Central Java.

News Desk (The Jakarta Post)
Jakarta
Tue, July 23, 2019

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Police claim Nunung used drugs for 20 years Drug abuse suspect Tri Retno Prayudati aka Nunung (center) cries while her husband July Jan Sambiran (behind her) holds her during a press conference in Jakarta Police headquarters on Monday. Nunung, July and a drug dealer initialed as HM have been named suspects in a drug abuse case. (Antara/Akbar Nugroho Gumay)

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rominent comedian Tri Retno Prayudati, known by her stage name Nunung, has allegedly been abusing narcotics since 20 years ago, police claimed after they arrested her on the weekend.

Jakarta Police spokesman Sr. Comr. Argo Yuwuno claimed Nunung told police that she was influenced by her colleagues from work back when she started her career in Surakarta, Central Java.

“Suspect NN [Nunung] has [allegedly] been using drugs since 20 years ago. At that time it was ecstasy that she consumed in Solo [Surakarta]. She was introduced [to drugs] during her comedic shows there,” he alleged in a press conference at Jakarta Police headquarters on Monday.

Argo further claimed that the drug abuse then stopped until March when she started to use drugs again.

“She [allegedly] said at her current age, she [allegedly] used sabu [crystal methamphetamine] to boost her stamina. She [allegedly] uses it every day,” Argo claimed about the 55-year-old woman.

Nunung and her husband July Jan Sambiran were arrested on Friday at their house in Tebet, South Jakarta after the couple allegedly bought crystal meth from a dealer with the initials HM. HM had been arrested prior to the raid on Nunung’s house. The three had been named as suspects in the case. Prior to their arrest police had arrested another man, TB, who allegedly sold the drugs to the couple. They have all been named suspects in the case.

Police said they moved based on a tip from a nearby resident who reported suspected frequent drug transactions in June. They then monitored the house and found TB delivering a package over the gate on Friday.

The head of the Jakarta Police's narcotics unit, Adj. Sr. Cmr. Calvijn Simanjuntak, claimed Nunung tried to lie to investigators during the arrest. At first she did not admit that she bought crystal meth from TB.

“She said she bought jewelry from TB,” Calvijn said, claiming that "jewelry" was a code word used by the suspects in their transactions.

It was reported that Nunung and her husband had allegedly bought sabu 10 times from TB in the past three months. The two allegedly tested positive for drugs.

Nunung also allegedly threw away some of the meth to her toilet in the raid arguing that she was panic. Police claim they had confiscated 0.36 grams of meth, two small empty plastic packets, three plastic straws allegedly used for consuming meth, one plastic spoon, one bottle allegedly used as a bong and cash.

The three suspects were officially detained on Monday. They could be charged with article 114 of a 2009 law on drugs that carries a penalty of more than five years' imprisonment upon conviction.

Calvijn added that police were still pursuing HM’s drug syndicate.

“We know that HM bought the drugs from another person identified as E,” he claimed, adding that the person was suspected to be in Bogor, West Java.

During the press conference, Nunung issued an apology to her family and the public. She also apologized to her husband whom she claimed had been asking her to stop consuming drugs.

“Thank you to the police who saved me,” said Nunung. “If this [arrest] did not happen, I do not know when I would stop,” she said in tears.

Nunung is a prominent comedian who started her career with a comedy group called Srimulat. Nunung has also been a regular on various TV comedy shows. (eyc)

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