Jail Drugs Backed by Powerful, Critics Say

The Jakarta Globe, August 13, 2013.


When an adult magazine model claimed last month that she had been routinely allowed to have sex and consume drugs with a convict at Jakarta’s Cipinang Penitentiary, the response seemed to indicate a tipping point in the country’s tolerance for the litany of scandals at the facility.

But just days later, when the inmate in question, Freddy Budiman, was transferred to a maximum security prison in Central Java, it was revealed that he had managed to smuggle out with him several packages of methamphetamine and SIM cards.

And last week, a spot inspection at Cipinang by Justice Minister Amir Syamsuddin uncovered a meth lab being run out of one of the prison’s workshops. A guard and three prisoners were subsequently arrested in connection with the discovery.

The increasingly audacious revelations, and mounting evidence about prison officials’ tacit approval or even complicity in facilitating the narcotics industry behind bars, have prompted demands from the House of Representatives for a complete overhaul of the country’s much-derided corrections system.

“These cases all show that the current leadership of the Justice Ministry is highly ineffective,” Bambang Soesatyo, a Golkar Party legislator at House Commission III, which oversees legal affairs, said in Jakarta on Tuesday. “Both the minister and the deputy minister continue to be played for fools by prison officials.”

He said that the frequent spot checks carried out by Denny Indrayana, the deputy minister, had failed to deter those involved in illicit activities.

“If the prison officials were truly obedient or fearful, you can bet Cipinang would be free of all drug activity,” he said.

“But the fact that they keep defying [Justice Ministry officials] shows that the drug activity inside the prison is backed by very powerful people. More powerful even that the justice minister or the deputy justice minister.”

Bambang urged Amir and Denny to make it their priority to unmask those “power players” instead of trying to play catch-up through a series of random inspections and checks.

“If those power players aren’t identified, there will always be meth labs operating inside prisons. They can carry out all the raids they want, but the labs will go back into operation in a week,” he said.

He argued it was inconceivable that such activities were not being masterminded or supervised from on high, given how widespread they were and how openly they operated.

‘Drug dens’

Aboe Bakar Al-Habsyi, a House Commission III legislator from the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS), said the recent findings lent credence to long-held public perceptions that the nation’s prisons were largely lawless places where inmates with enough money could continue their criminal activities unhampered.

“The prison system just isn’t working like it should,” he said. “There’s long been a public perception that drug dealing is rife in prisons, but now we’re hearing of drug production taking place inside.”

This, he said, indicated that the corruption in the prison system was “systemic.”

“How could the production of meth and ecstasy inside Cipinang not be known to more than one or two people? How could the officials not notice the raw ingredients and equipment being brought it?”

Aboe Bakar said all the signs pointed to a “prison mafia” that wielded immense power and that should be a key target in the government’s ongoing campaign against illegal drugs.

“[The government] has failed to manage the prison system properly. These are no longer correctional facilities, but drug dens. We’re facing a law enforcement crisis, so the president must step in and re-evaluate the Justice Ministry’s work,” he said.

Scapegoat

Among the items found in the Cipinang workshop during the raid on the night of Aug. 6 were 13 packs of powder and several containers of liquid believed to be raw materials used to cook meth.

Rachman, the head of security at the Cipinang narcotics wing, said the substances were found inside a small cupboard in one of the prison’s workshops.

Several cellphones, some spare SIM cards and two bank books were also discovered in a nearby sewing room.

Brig. Gen. Arman Depari, the National Police’s anti-narcotics director, who also took part in the inspection, said one of the substances found was almost certainly “red phosphorous, which is usually used as a mixing agent in the production of methamphetamine.”

“We also found a liquid which is likely to be some sort of residue formed after the [drug] was made, although we are not certain of what it is right now,” he added.

A prison guard, identified only as G., was the sole official named a suspect following the discovery of the drug lab.

Aboe Bakar urged officials investigating the case to identify all those involved, no matter how high up they were.

“I call on the BNN [National Narcotics Agency] and the Jakarta Police to get to the very bottom of this case,” he said. “This [drug] network must be broken up and firmly stamped out.”

He warned against making G. the scapegoat in the case in order to cover up the involvement of higher officials, saying there was no way that a drug production operation could have gone on without the knowledge of senior prison staff.

“The public expects the BNN and the police to handle this case firmly, but greater openness and cooperation from the Justice Ministry would also be very helpful,” Aboe Bakar said.

Money talks

For its part, the Justice Ministry has vowed to pursue a “special strategy” to deal with the problem of drugs inside prisons.

Bambang Krisbanu, the ministry’s acting director general of corrections, said his office would summon the chief wardens of all the country’s penitentiaries to discuss the matter.

“This is a task that we must all face together. And we won’t take the task lightly. We will act firmly against those found ‘playing,’ ” he said.

He added that immediate measures being put into place included increasing the level of security at “strategic points” within prisons, such as delivery entrances and visitor arrival halls.

“We will tighten security and increase our alert at points where goods can come in and out. We will also add more guards,” Bambang said.

He added that visitors would be checked three times before being allowed to meet with prisoners, and would also be checked again upon leaving the prison.

But Indonesia Police Watch, an independent organization, says these steps will be meaningless as long as the culture of corruption behind bars continues to allow inmates with money to buy whatever they want.

Neta S. Pane, the IPW chairman, said that even obtaining temporary leave from prison was simply a matter of paying the right officials.

He said research by IPW showed that some inmates were allowed out of prison for up to three days a week.

Amir acknowledged that his ministry faced a major battle against organized syndicates running the prison drug dealing operations.

“I have reminded all officials of the Justice Ministry throughout the country to be on high alert for this kind of activity,” he said shortly after the discovery of the Cipinang meth lab.

“I can’t guarantee that this is the only one out there.”

He added that the ministry was conducting an internal investigation into the possible involvement of prison officials in the case.

“What’s been going on at Cipinang recently has been pretty embarrassing,” Amir said.



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