TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Two hundred and five officers of the Indonesian National Army (TNI) Navy were found to have used drugs from 2005 to 2013. "They include officers, non-commissioned officers, and enlisted soldiers," TNI Navy spokesman First Admiral Untung Suropati said in a discussion about drugs at the National Narcotics Agency (BNN) building, Wednesday, May 1.
Untung said that the main causes for the soldiers to use drugs are life style and mental factors--not because of the pressure from work. "If it is because of work, the why prove is only a small fraction are involved in drugs,"
To prevent drug use, Untung said, the Navy performs annual health checks. The TNI Navy Military Police, too, he added, hold regular order and discipline routines in nightclubs.
BNN's deputy of drug eradication Benny Mamoto said that soldiers who become addicted to drugs pose a threat to the public, particularly when they are under the influence, "because they carry weapons."
On Monday, BNN arrested Col. Antar Setiabudi, a Semarang Naval Base Commander, in a hotel room on a drugs bust. Antar is currently being held at the headquarters of the Navy Military Police.
INDRA WIJAYA | ALI AKHMAD
