DRUG PUSHERS MIXING DRUGS WITH DOG PILLS

JAKARTA (JP): Drugs distributed among several elementary school students
reportedly contained chemical substances from dog medication, a senior city
official said on Tuesday.

The official, who asked for anonymity, refused to elaborate but told
reporters to seek details from the head of the city's education and
teaching agency, Masrul Nim.

"Masrul told a meeting (today) that traffickers mixed the drugs with
medicine for dogs," the official said.

Masrul denied addressing the subject of drugs or drug trafficking during
the meeting at City Hall on Tuesday.

"There was no conversation about drugs," he said before leaving reporters.

Meanwhile, head of the city office of the Ministry of Education and
Culture, Alwi Nurdin, said that his office found four students consuming
drugs at an elementary school in Rawamangun subdistrict, East Jakarta.

"The students said they always suffered headaches after consuming the drugs
given by an unidentified woman," Alwi said after the meeting.

He suspected the woman was the same drug pusher who operated in elementary
schools in Tanah Abang district and a junior high school in Cikini
district, both in Central Jakarta.

According to Alwi's subordinate, Adang Ruhiat, the office also identified a
junior high school and four senior high schools in the city with student
drug addicts.

The schools, Adang added, were located in East, Central and South Jakarta
but he refused to identify them.

Some of the students are undergoing treatment at a hospital for drug
dependency in South Jakarta.

He said the city administration was trying to eradicate the spread of
drugs, particularly sedatives, through establishing antidrug youth forums,
which now consisted of 250 students throughout the city. It is also
cooperating with security personnel in conducting raids to search students
for drugs.

Governor Sutiyoso declared war against drug traffickers last week and
announced the administration planned a massive TV campaign to warn young
people about the dangers of drug use.

Politics

On Saturday, a sociologist and a criminologist said that the massive spread
of drugs in the capital over the past few months was politically rather
than socially motivated.

Sociologist Paulus Wirutomo and criminologist Purnianti told The Jakarta
Post separately that their conclusions are based on the fact that drug
traffickers had been able to sell sedatives to elementary school students.

But both experts from the University of Indonesia refused to name any
groups behind the plot, and said they also still could not identify the aim
of the mission.

Paulus and Purnianti said only that the alleged involvement of several
high-ranking government officials in the drug trafficking was further
evidence that there were political interests in the apparently expanding
business.

Paulus said it was now clear that certain parties wished to disturb the
people's lives.

"So that they can reach their political goals ... but I'm not the right
person to point this out," he added.

In the past, Paulus said, drug traffickers focused their sales only on
people who were willing to consume the drugs.

Now they attempt to broaden their market by manipulating the sedative
materials into various forms, such as candy or "smart pills", he said.

"It will of course not be easy for us to halt such attacks."

Arrests for drug-related crimes and the seizures of huge amounts of heroin,
marijuana and other drugs have made media headlines over the past few months.

According to Purnianti, the real number cases could actually be double
those reported in the media.

"I am also confident that the figure will be much bigger this year," she said.

City residents were surprised recently by reports that forbidden drugs had
also been consumed by elementary school students, who got them from a woman
selling candies and pills she claimed would make them smarter.

Police also confirmed that traffickers have begun recruiting young girls as
smugglers and dealers.

The reports also showed that the drug trafficking network involved some
high-ranking government officials.

Paulus said he could not understand that until now there has been no
serious action taken by the central government.

"The case has been right in front of their eyes but there has been no real
action so far," he said.

He said several measures taken by the police were inadequate.

Both Paulus and Purnianti agreed that one solution was that employed by
residents of Pulogadung districts in East Jakarta, which involved all
community members in a massive anti-drug program. (jun/ind)