A personal story about drugs, from another place.

Illegal drugs are Indonesian I don't have many contacts with known users or people who use openly. We have a fairly strict drug law that is fairly well enforced. According to the World Justice Project, Indonesia's rank is, well, “meh“, 66 out of 142 countries(*1).

But now I can say that I know someone who uses drugs (maybe just cannabis). Because of the stigma, in Indonesia you don't want to be known as a drug user. Unfortunately, there are court databases where you can search for drug cases that contain the names of the accused.

Now that that’s cleared up, here’s the story:

I have a colleague, not bad Person, but rather disgusting. If I was He carried a laptop and shouted across the parking lot questions what I had with me. I also talk too much during Zoom meetings and drag them out.

He took time off from 10 to 12 July 2024 (Wednesday to Friday) to go on holiday in Malaysia. He is absent on Monday, still absenthis wife said he was delayed in Malaysia. As of Friday his wife still said “delayed” and said she didn't know anything more. No Instagram posts during this time, he is usually quite active there and his WhatsApp is also inactive.

At my workplace, a bank, the policy is that you can't be absent for more than five days without excuse. Six days means termination. So on Monday the 22nd he'll be unemployed.

After snooping around a bit, I got some additional facts:

1. He travelled to Malaysia with four others, at least one of whom is a bank customer.
2. The bank customer is an entrepreneur. Rumour has it that he is suspected of drug use.
3. She went to Malaysia to see a concert of Richie Jen (or Richie Ren). (*2) He was famous in the late 1990s and early 2000s (I think). The concert is on Saturday, 13th.
4. People from different cities in Indonesia organize a joint concert visit. If the concert begins5 people from my City and 7 from another City Is miss.
5. There is news from Malaysia that a drug operation called “Ops Hawk” has been taking place in Genting for four days since July 9 (*3). The news says that 12 men from Indonesia have been arrested. Yes, 7+5…
6. If that's true, then they traveled to Malaysia on the 10th, while the drug trafficking started on the 9th. And he's still doing drugs there… so the trafficking could be secret.
7. Later ToThere is information that the trial will take place in October.

Nothing definitive, most of it is just second or third hand knowledge. I think he would rather be unemployed than definitely known as a drug addict. The stigma attached to that would make it impossible for him to get another job at a bank, at least in my town. But the rumor mill might be enough to keep him from getting a new job anyway.

From what I have heard, in Indonesia you can bribe police officers, prosecutors and even judges to look the other way, at least in the lowest court “Pengadilan Negeri”. But that is risky nowadays, fighting corruption drive Is quite active (*4), and adding bribery to his crimes is never a good idea. At the next level, “Pengadilan Tinggi”, and the Supreme Court “Mahkamah Agung”, bribery is practically impossible. I don't think have knowledge of how it works in Malaysia.

My advice: just don't do it here. In Malaysia and Indonesia even cannabis is strictly prohibited (*5)(*6). Especially if it's a drug-related crime and you end up in the news media. I doubt any official will take a bribe to release you if you're in the news.

That was, meinterestingand I wonder, does this kind of story happen often in the States or other countriesS?

Sources:

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