DRUGS ABUSE AND TRAFFICKING: HOW LOW CAN YOU GO?

Amid mounting concerns due to the increasing numbers of drug abusers in the
capital, the government seems to be powerless to contain the problem and
curb the distribution of illegal drugs.

Alarmingly high figures on drug abuse and trafficking were released by a
consortium of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in October 2000 which
stated that 3.4 million people, or more than one-third of Jakarta's total
population of 8.9 million, are known to be drug abusers. If all the data is
accurate, it means that in only one year, the figure rose by a whopping 70
percent from 1999 statistics.

Drug abuse in the capital has reached a terribly high level, not only in
terms of the massive number of people abusing the drugs, but also in terms
of the age of the victims.

The latest data from police records indicate that the drug abusers comprise
not only adults, but also teenagers and even children who are still in
elementary school.

Fresh findings confirmed that some 1,000 high school students were caught
while using drugs, and some 166 high schools across the capital reported
drug cases on campus. Still, many reports and other data suggest that there
are far more young users than those who were caught in the act.

Such a worsening condition of drug abuse also seemed to indicate failure on
behalf of the government to contain illegal drug trafficking here.

Huge amounts of heroin and other illicit drugs are smuggled into the
country on a regular basis it is estimated. Latest data shows that heroin
trafficking exceeds an astonishing 30 tons every month.

The government's failure to crack down on drugs was admitted by President
Megawati Soekarnoputri, who blamed the lack of diligence on the part of law
enforcers, who are unable or unwilling to fight drug trafficking.

"I'm really becoming impatient with all the existing procedures and our
recent record in failing to contain drug abuse," said Megawati during a
speech in October.

She contended that the rampant drug abuse was partly due to the absence of
harsher punishment against drug dealers.

To deter the drug abusers, she declared a war against drug trafficking by
calling on law enforcers to give heavier sentences to drug dealers and
producers, including the death penalty, which several other ASEAN neighbors
have done.

She also assigned the National Intelligence Agency (BIN) with the task of
coordinating the anti-drug campaign.

Many welcomed Megawati's call for harsher punishment to drug dealers, but
some doubted that such a measure would be effective to curb the drug
trafficking.

An anti-narcotics campaigner, lawyer Henry Yosodiningrat concurred with the
president, saying the existing laws on drugs needed amending in order to
make them more effective to contain drug-related crimes.

But, Joyce Djaelani Gordon of the Harapan Hati Kita Foundation doubted that
any effort could be effective until government officials and law enforcers
quit the practice of corruption which obviously undermines any law that
could be enacted. Reportedly there are certain corrupt customs officials
and certain police who regularly take bribes from dealers and traffickers.

Meanwhile, human rights lawyer Todung Mulya Lubis expressed skepticism that
capital punishment would curb the number of drug cases in the country.

He regretted that such stern punishment had not reached the truly major
drug traffickers.

Those who had already been given the death penalty were nothing more than
couriers, not the real drug bosses.

Data on death sentences handed down for defendants of drug offenses mostly
came from the Tangerang District Court.

In the past 20 months, the Tangerang court has surprisingly sentenced 14
defendants to death, most of whom are foreigners, in drug offenses.

The majority of them were arrested at Soekarno-Hatta airport as they were
attempting to smuggle drugs into the country via Pakistan, India or Thailand.

Three of those on death row are Indonesians: Deni Setiawan Maharwan, 28,
Rani Andriani, 25 and Meirika Franola, 31. The others included five
Nepalese, three Nigerians, one Zimbabwean and one Angolan. There is also
one facing a life sentence, a courier from Malawi.

The amount of drugs found on the defendants varied, from 554 grams to 3.8
kilograms of heroin.

Although the government's new tough stance against drug dealers deserves
some praise, most observers warned that the effort would be futile unless
the government formulates clear and thorough strategies to deal with the
entire issue.

The government must simultaneously fight drug trafficking, uphold the law
and provide rehabilitation for victims and dealers, according to the observers.

City Police Detective of Narcotics chief Adj. Sr. Carlo Tewu claimed that
his team had done its utmost to combat the drug trafficking.

"We have found it to be difficult to eradicate the problem due to limited
number of personnel and poor telecommunication facilities," Carlo said.

He claimed that most syndicates supplying drugs to the black market work in
closed and solid work chains, and are therefore more organized and
efficient than the police. They are also supported by highly skilled
personnel with sophisticated telecommunication devices -- another thing the
police are sorely lacking -- so that it was difficult for the police to
break or track down the organization.

Based on recent police findings of drug supplies in the market, the drugs
are mostly smuggled from abroad into Jakarta through Indonesian waters, via
Batam from Malaysia. The drugs are believed to come from various parts of Asia.

In August, the police managed to arrest three men on a speedboat carrying
eight kilograms of shabu-shabu (crystal methamphetamine), after they had
arrived at Tanjung Priok port from Batam. The police also seized 10
kilograms of marijuana from a passenger at the port. Most of the marijuana
is believed to have been grown in northern Sumatra.

Carlo also said that many of the ecstasy pills have been produced locally.
"That's why ecstasy is relatively easy to obtain here."

In a raid at the Taman Anggrek apartments in West Jakarta, the police
nabbed three suspected ecstasy producers, confiscating 3,940 pills and five
kilograms of raw materials.

Following Megawati's statement, the police commenced several anti-drug
sweeps on places suspected to be centers of drug trafficking. In the first
four weeks of the anti-drug operation, the police have detained 124
suspects, confiscating some 104 grams of heroin, 39,151 ecstasy pills, 60
kilograms marijuana and other psychotropic substances.

The surprisingly small quantity of drugs seized in the raids, sparked some
pointed questions from the public, on whether or not the police were really
serious, or had the necessary integrity for such an operation.

Carlo claimed that those police operations were aimed at encouraging public
awareness to help combat the drug trafficking, not to catch the "big fish".

"We want to empower the people to protect themselves from the threatening
drugs," Carlo rationalized.

Many young people have fallen prey to drug dealers and producers who charge
them expensive prices for the illicit substances which in turn, often
creates an addiction and prompts addicts to commit crimes in order to buy
the drugs they need for a fix.

Those drug dealers or producers also have been known to unprofessionally
mix the drugs with other, sometimes harmful, substances in a ploy to lower
the price of production, but they risk further harm, even death, to drug
users due to their ignorance and greed.

Intravenous drug users are also at risk for various diseases which can be
contracted by the sharing of needles. About 40 percent of intravenous drug
users have been found to be infected with either the Human Immunodeficiency
Virus (HIV) or Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS). The equally
deadly hepatitis B virus can also be contracted through shared needles.

The prevalence of known HIV cases also rose to an officially reported 415
in June 2001, up from only an officially reported three in the same month
in 1998, according to Ministry of Health data.