COVID-19 Drug Mode From Semarang Stockpiled, Prices Soar In Jakarta

ILLUSTRATION/UNSPLASH

JAKARTA - The police said that hundreds of boxes of Azithromycin 500mg that was stockpiled in a warehouse in the Kalideres area, West Jakarta, came from Semarang, Central Java. The drugs have been stockpiled since early July.

"Yes, if we get information, we will investigate it, that the person concerned took the goods from the Semarang area. From Semarang it is distributed here, from here it will be distributed to customers", said West Jakarta Metro Police Chief, Kombes Ady Wibowo to reporters, Monday, July 12.

Hundreds of boxes of medicine have been stored in shophouses for more than a week. The drug was deliberately not directly distributed to make the price higher.

"So these items have arrived before July 5th. This means that they must also be distributed immediately", said Ady.

By not distributing the drug, its availability in the market will definitely decrease, especially in Jakarta. Even though Azithromycin 500 mg is often consumed by people with COVID-19.

"(The distribution) is throughout Jabodetabek", said Ady.

As previously reported, the police raided a shophouse that was used as a warehouse for storing Azithromycin in the Kalideres area, West Jakarta. It is strongly suspected that the drugs were deliberately stored to raise prices above the Highest Retail Price (HET).

"We see here that the facts found in the field are efforts to raise prices from the highest retail prices", said Ady.

Referring to data from the Ministry of Health, the 500 mg Azithromycin drug which is often consumed during the COVID-19 pandemic has a HET of IDR 1,700 per tablet. But with this hoarding, the price soared.

In addition, during the raid, the police seized 730 boxes of Azithromycin. Where each box contains 20 tablets. Not only that, but the police also found paracetamol and Dexamethasone.

"Where is the highest retail price that we found, one tablet should be IDR 1,700, but we see here there is an increase in the price to IDR 3,350, that's the first time", he said.