Jakarta, Jan 28 (ANTARA) - All Indonesians have been called on to 'wage
a massive battle' against drugs after the arrest of 17 people on Sunday
and the discovery of a new type of drug that has been in circulation
across the country.
"The drug that has victimized people in all strata of the society,
including politicians, artists and people from other professions, is the
country's biggest enemy. Therefore, the people should wage a massive
battle against it," House Speaker Marzuki Alie said here on Monday.
The National Narcotics Agency (BNN), at 4 am on Sunday, arrested 17
people, including artists Raffi Achmad and Wanda Hamidah at Raffi's home
in Lebak Bulus, South Jakarta, for drugs abuse.
BNN deputy
for prosecution Benny Mamoto said his agency had taken the 17 people
into custody for questioning and examinations. "Five of them have
tested positive for drugs. We will continue to investigate the others,"
BNN spokesman Snr. Comr. Sumirat Dwiyanto said.
Meanwhile, Saleh Partaonan Daulay, the General Chairman of a youth wing
organization of the country's second largest Muslim organization,
Muhammadiyah, also called on all citizens of Indonesia to cooperate in
preventing the circulation of drugs across the nation.
"It seems that BNN has so far been concentrating on arresting drug
consumers, while big-time traffickers or croupiers remain at large. No
wonder illegal drugs continue to be circulated in the country," he said
in an SMS to ANTARA here on Monday.
Although Saleh Partaonan Daulay praised BNN for its success in
arresting drug users across the country, he expressed regret that such
efforts never led to the arrest of major drug traffickers.
However, the agency found that a new type of drug was also being currently distributed illegally in Indonesia.
The BNN discovered a new drug after conducting urine tests on Raffi
Ahmad and his friends on Sunday. "Results of the tests showed that
there is a new drug in town, which has already made its way to
Singapore. We are studying the new drug," said BNN Laboratory's head of
technical implementation unit, Kuswardani, on Monday.
He noted that the discovered substance was 'not yet classified as an item in Group I, II or III'.
According to Saleh Partaonan Dulay, the fight against drugs will be
fruitless if the drug lords were not arrested. He said the BNN should
have targeted the big dealers when tackling illegal narcotics
circulation.
"It is the big dealers who destroy the morality of the nation and the
future of younger generations," Saleh pointed out.
He stated that the circulation of narcotics in Indonesia were a matter
of grave concern. In the past, drugs were circulated in big cities only
for consumption among the middle and upper classes of the society.
However, now the drugs are also being distributed in small cities for
consumption by the lower-income people. The number of users has been
increasing by the day.
According to Marzuki Alie, people from all sections of the society had fallen victim to drugs.
"The danger of narcotics can befall anyone now, no matter who she or he
is, and no matter what profession he or she belongs to," he said at the
Parliament building.
Marzuki stated that the fight against drugs should start from within and from the family.
"This fight against drugs should start from the smallest unit of our society - ourselves and our families," he said.
Marzuki pointed out that if the family could prevent a member from
consuming narcotics, the danger of drugs circulation could be minimized.
"The victims of narcotics are not only politicians and artists but also
university and school students. Drugs have affected people in all
professions," the House Speaker said.
Moreover, the threat of drugs has further risen with the discovery of
new drug types that are not yet listed under the law.
After
Kuswardani's team found a new type of drug, he said: "Law Number 35/2009
on narcotics does not cover the new drug. We will work closely with
other agencies, including the health and trade ministries, and the drug
and food control agency (BPOM)."
"Drug traffickers invented the
new drug to escape the eyes of law enforcers. However, BNN is still
questioning them. They are not allowed to go home," he added.
BNN's Benny said the items seized on Sunday included MDNA powder
capsules (ingredient: ecstasy pills) and rolls of marijuana.
"The officers arrested 17 people after many individuals complained
about the parties being held at Raffi Ahmad's home," he explained.
BNN spokesman Sumirat said five of the 17 people arrested at Raffi's home tested positive for drugs.
"Two were found to have consumed marijuana, while two others consumed
the ecstasy-type drug. The other one used both types (marijuana and
ecstasy)," he noted.
BNN head Commissioner General Anang Iskandar said on Monday that his
agency was still conducting a series of tests on the arrested people.
Meanwhile, Sumirat said: "We are still conducting examinations because
they used a new drug. They used capsules which contained substance they
mixed themselves. We are examining it at the laboratory."
He
stated that his agency needed to conduct comprehensive tests to identify
the substance used to manufacture the drug. "We need to know the type
of the substance because they mixed many things up and put them into
capsules," Sumirat added.**2***
(T.A014/INE/H-YH)
(T.A014/A/KR-BSR/A/H-YH) 28-01-2013 21:30 |
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