TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Weoften hear the saying that a dirty house cannot be cleaned with a soiled broom. But in the case of Police Adj. Sr. Comr. Idha Endri Prastiono and Brig. M.P. Harahap who were recently arrested on drug charges, another Indonesian proverb would be more applicable: the fence stole the land it should be protecting.

The two officers were arrested by the Malaysian police in Kuching, Sarawak on suspicion of being members of an international narcotics ring. The Malaysian police had already detained Chusi, a Filipina believed to be acting as a courier. This network is suspected of controlling the distribution of drugs coming out of Africa. West Kalimantan and Sarawak share a porous border that allows easy illegal crossings.

The Indonesian police should not cover up this shameful affair. The Malaysian police are reportedly making progress in investigating the case, thanks to their efficient intelligence. Although the two men's urine tested negative for addictive substances, it does not prove Idha and Harahap were not drug dealers. But the Malaysian police have yet to indict them on any charges.

The statement by Indonesian National Police Chief, Gen. Sutarman that the public should not be quick to conclude that Idha and Harahap are part of an international drug ring, can be seen as an application of the principle of innocence before proven guilty. Nevertheless, here at home, Sutarman must launch a separate, serious investigation into the case because Idha and Harahap may have been working with other senior police officers. Before his arrest, Idha was chief of the West Kalimantan Police sub-directorate anti-narcotics unit, while Harahap worked at the Entikong Police sector.

The police should take another look at the movements of Idha and Harahap, as well as investigate their flow of funds and telephone calls. The Financial Transactions Reporting and Analysis Center (PPATK) should be involved in the investigation. To avoid any conflicts of interest, if there are any indications of corruption, the police should hand the case over to the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK).

Idha already has a dubious track record. At the beginning of 2014, his wife, Titi Yusnawati, reported the loss of 5 kilograms of jewelry from her luggage at the Soekarno-Hatta airport. Most astonishingly, when they uncovered a network of luggage thieves at the airport, the police never attempted to figure out why Idha's wife carried such valuables on her flight. The value of the jewelry was 'reduced' from Rp19 billion to Rp500 million, and then to 'only' Rp181.5 million. There were no attempts to clarify rumors that the jewelry might be part of Idha's attempt to launder ill-gotten money.

The Idha and Harahap case should spur the police to smash the drug rings, including elements within the police. The existence of two bodies with the power to handle narcotics cases must be reconsidered. At present, the police Narcotics Directorate operates under the National Police Crime Division, but there is also the National Narcotics Agency (BNN), which is directly accountable to the president and usually headed by a police general.

Instead of cooperating, however, the two bodies often compete against each other. Such a situation must not be allowed to continue. In the middle of last year, the BNN blocked the account of a person they suspected of involvement in a drugs case. The owner of the account fought back by reporting the BNN to the police, claiming that he had bribed the BNN chief to have his account unblocked-an allegation the police chief denied.

Instead of jointly conducting an open investigation, there was conflict between the two organizations. The BNN chief's office was broken into by a police investigator and some documents strongly suspected to be linked to the blocking of the account were taken away. Subsequently, it was revealed that this chaotic competition concealed a rivalry between a senior BNN official and his counterpart in the police force for the position of police chief. In other words, the narcotics case was used as a way for one general to attack his rival.

This is the challenge for the police: to instil professionalism in its officers corps. Given the increasingly powerful narcotics mafia, law enforcers cannot afford to be soft or easily tempted, let alone stab each other in the back. Perhaps we should regard the arrest of the two police officers overseas as a blessing in disguise. Given the lack of serious effort to stop the crime domestically, perhaps the only way to expose this rot would be, unfortunately, to do it in a neighboring country. (*)

Read the full story in this week's edition of Tempo English Magazine