Jakarta – The government should review the National Narcotics Agency (BNN)'s performance and its activities, which focus more on anti-drug campaigns rather than fighting drug syndicates, a legislator said Saturday.
"It is imperative for the government to review the BNN in order to deal with the increasing number of drug cases in the country," Sahrin Hamid, a member of the House of Representatives' Commission III overseeing law, legal and security affairs, said during a discussion on the fight against drugs.
He said the BNN should increase its activities to fight drug syndicates and arrest drug producers, since many BNN officials were police officers.
"They shouldn't only focus on anti-drug campaigns. The review must include a budget allocated to the agency so it can fight drug producers," Sahrin, who represents the National Mandate Party (PAN), was quoted as saying by Detik.com newsportal.
The agency, established in 2002 by then president Megawati Soekarnoputri, is loosely modeled on the US Drug Enforcement Administration. It is responsible for intelligence networking and investigating international drug syndicates that impact on Indonesia's counter-narcotics efforts.
The Saturday discussion highlighted the second arrest of veteran actor Roy Marten for possession of drugs in Surabaya. The Surabaya Police arrested Roy and three friends at a hotel Tuesday morning.
Police confiscated 43 grams of shabu-shabu or crystal methamphetamine from Roy, who was once jailed for nine months on drug-related charges.
Roy, who appeared in national anti-drug campaigns after his first arrest, had just witnessed the signing of a memorandum of understanding between the BNN and the Jawa Pos daily. Sahrin said Roy's second arrest would further damage the image of the BNN.
The secretary of the Cinta Anak Bangsa foundation, Iskandar Irwan Hukom, agreed that using Roy as a BNN icon in its anti-drug campaigns would ruin BNN's image.
"In Singapore, a person is only deemed drug-free after he or she has been clean for a period of five years, proven through tests," he said.
The BNN, however, denied reports Roy was its icon for its anti-drug campaigns.