PT ASA In Kalideres Tricks BPOM Calling Stock Of Azithromycin Drug For COVID Not Available, Though...

West Jakarta Metro Police Chief Kombes Ady Wibowo (Photo: West Jakarta Police Public Relations/Rizky Adytia)

JAKARTA - The West Jakarta Metro Resort Police (Polres) searched a shophouse owned by PT ASA on Monday, July 12 last night to investigate allegations of hoarding drugs to cure COVID-19 patients.

West Jakarta Metro Police Chief Kombes Ady Wibowo said a pharmacist at the company stated that the owner asked not to sell the drugs. This is a strong indication of hoarding.

Moreover, the warehouse contains hundreds of boxes containing Azithromycin 500 milligrams (mg) needed to cure COVID-19 patients in hospitals.

"One of the pharmacists who explained that the type of drug was Azithromycin 500 mg, there was a conversation from the PT owner, from the PT owner not to sell it first, meaning there are indications for stockpiling," Ady said in Jakarta, Tuesday, July 13.

Ady said there was an attempt by PT ASA to deceive the Food and Drug Supervisory Agency (BPOM) when they wanted to be questioned regarding the stock of medicines they had.

"There was a letter from BPOM on July 7, 2021 to hold a zoom meeting to ask if there was a stock of 500 mg Azithromycin. But it was conveyed by the person concerned that the stock was not yet available," said Ady.

The police have asked for information from three witnesses when searching PT ASA's shophouses, namely YP (58) as director, MA (32) as pharmacist and E (47) as warehouse head.

Ady said the basis for police investigations was Law Number 7 of 2014 concerning Trade Article 29 paragraph (1) and/or Law Number 8 of 1999 concerning Consumer Protection Article 10 and/or Law Number 4 of 1984 concerning Infectious Disease Outbreaks. Article 5 paragraph (1).

Article 29 paragraph (1) of the Trade Law states "business actors are prohibited from storing basic necessities and/or important goods in a certain amount and time when there is a shortage of goods, price fluctuations and/or barriers to trade traffic in goods".

If proven, the threat is a maximum imprisonment of five years and/or a maximum fine of Rp. 50 billion as stated in Article 107 of Law 7/2014.

Meanwhile, article 10 of the Consumer Protection Law states that "business actors in offering goods and/or services intended for trading are prohibited from offering, promoting, advertising, or making statements that are not true or misleading regarding the price or tariff of goods and/or services." .

The threat as stated in Article 62 paragraph (1) of Law 8/99 is a five-year prison sentence or a maximum fine of IDR 2 billion.

Finally, Article 5 paragraph (1) of the Law on Outbreaks of Infectious Diseases states "efforts to control the epidemic include treatment".

In Article 14 of Law 4/84, criminal threats are classified into the category of crime and the category of violation.

The category of crime is if it intentionally hinders the implementation of epidemic control. This crime is punishable by a maximum imprisonment of one year and/or a maximum fine of Rp. 1 million.

Meanwhile, the category of violations occurred due to negligence which resulted in the implementation of the epidemic prevention being hindered. Such violation is punishable by a maximum imprisonment of six months and/or a maximum fine of Rp. 500 thousand.

The Special Criminal Unit of the West Jakarta Metro Police Criminal Investigation Unit searched a shophouse unit on Jalan Peta Barat Indah III Block C Number 8, Kalideres, West Jakarta.

The three-story shophouse was searched because it was indicated to be a location for hoarding hundreds or even thousands of boxes containing medicines needed by COVID-19 patients.