Indonesian TV host Roy Kiyoshi was apprehended on Wednesday evening at his home by the South Jakarta Police Narcotics Unit for alleged possession of psychotropic drugs.
South Jakarta Police Chief Budi Sartono told local media outlets that Roy has been questioned by authorities and more details from the official investigation will be revealed today at a press conference.
A photo of the 33-year-old TV host as he was taken into custody by two police officers in personal protective equipment (PPE) has been circulating on social media since yesterday.
Roy, who claims to be clairvoyant, has since been widely mocked by Indonesian netizens for not being able to see his own arrest. In a popular tweet below, a user posted two screenshots of news headlines about Roy using the “from this to this” meme, with the headlines translated to “Roy Kiyoshi predicts many celebrities will be involved in drug cases” and “Apprehended for drugs, Roy Kiyoshi is still undergoing investigation.”
roy kiyoshi memprediksi dirinya sendiri
from this to this pic.twitter.com/TsmyBcw0Ut
— renné nésa (@makmummasjid) May 7, 2020
According to Roy’s attorney, Henry Indraguna, his client was arrested while he was with his mother. Henry claimed that the psychotropic drugs that police found at Roy’s home were consumed to overcome his difficulty sleeping due to the emotional toll of the COVID-19 partial lockdown currently in place.
“Because he had been staying at home, he got stressed out and couldn’t sleep. He couldn’t sleep for at least three days,” Henry told Detik yesterday.
Police reportedly seized dumolid pills — which contains nitrazepam, a hypnotic drug that has sedative properties used for disabling anxiety and insomnia in the short term — as well as another unnamed substance. Dumolid is listed as a psychotropic drug according to a Health Ministry Regulation issued in 2000, and can only be legally obtained using a doctor’s prescription.
Back in 2017, Indonesian actor Tora Sudiro was charged with a serious drug offense for illegal possession of a prescription drug, which happened to also be dumolid pills.
The public was first introduced to Roy for “reading” the future of participants in a program called Karma on TV station ANTV in December 2017. He soon starred in sinetron (soap operas) titled Karma The Series and Indra Ketujuh (The Seventh Sense), the latter being an adaptation of his own book, Indigo: The Story of Roy Kiyoshi.
Last year, Roy starred in a horror film about himself titled Roy Kiyoshi (The Untold Story), which was critically panned.
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