Indonesia
may become one of Asia’s largest producers of ecstasy, even as officials
continue to crack down on drug traffickers, according to a UN narcotics
watchdog.
The nation might become the major producer of
ecstasy in East and Southeast Asia since Indonesia had a surfeit of the raw
materials used to make the drug, according to a report published by the
International Narcotics Control Board (INCB), an independent group monitoring
implementation of UN drug control conventions.
Local production of amphetamine-type
stimulants (ATS) continued to soar, raising fears of an increasing number of
drug users even though crackdowns had “significantly” deterred traffickers from
entering Indonesia, INCB member Sri Suryawati said on Tuesday.
“Domestic illegal manufacturers produce
ecstasy tablets by converting chemicals already available in the country,” Sri,
who heads Gadjah Mada University’s clinical pharmacology and medical studies
program, said.
Ecstasy producers flourished despite strict
importation procedures for chemicals and pharmaceutical raw materials imposed
by the National Drug and Food Monitoring Agency (BPOM) and the Health Ministry,
Sri said.
“Under such circumstances, there is also a
possibility that the raw materials are trafficked into the country by
smugglers,” Sri said at the launch of the report on Tuesday at the United
Nations Information Center’s office in Jakarta.
Ecstasy is the most commonly abused drug in
the country after heroin and ketamines, according to officials.
The INCB’s report said that the number of
ecstasy tablets seized by law enforcement agencies in Indonesia increased by 38
percent between 2009 and 2010, while the National Police and the National
Narcotics Agency shut down 15 clandestine ecstasy laboratories in 2010 alone.
“It appears that domestic illicit
manufacturers supplied 90 percent of the ecstasy seized in the country, raising
concerns that [Indonesia] may become a main source of the drug in the region,”
the report said.
The misuse of precursor chemicals to
manufacture narcotics constitutes one of three major forms of drug abuse in
Indonesia.
Two other developments that were of concern,
according to the report, were the increased abuse and illegal importation of
ketamines and drug trafficking that involved organized criminal groups from
West Africa and Iran.
The report said that drug trafficking and the
increased abuse of ketamines had become a serious concern in East and Southeast
Asia.
The report said that Asia accounted for 99
percent of ketamine seizures across the world in 2009 and that China alone
seized 5 tons of ketamines in 2010.
Indonesia was one of several countries that
reported ketamine seizures, along with Japan, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and
Vietnam.
Doctors in Indonesia previously used ketamines
as an anesthetic, although the practice ended after the local pharmaceutical
industry began to produce higher-quality anesthetics.
“Only veterinarian still use ketamines to
anesthetize animals during surgery,” said Sri.
Deputy Health Minister Ali Ghufron Mukti said
that Indonesia would raise ask the World Health Organization to develop a
coordinated response to ketamine abuse and production when the WHO meets laster
this year.
Elly Burhaini Faizal
The Jakarta Post,
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