Earlier this year we heard about Gorilla Super Tobacco (Tembakau Super Cap Gorilla), a product that supposedly gives its consumers a momentary head-rush. The substance is not entirely illegal, but the police are now treating it like it is.
The tobacco became popular in the city some months ago after people learned that the National Narcotics Agency (BNN) hadn’t placed it on their dangerous substances list, despite it narcotic-like effect.
Despite that, the police now seem keen to halt the tobacco’s spread by threatening to arrest its dealers for reasons unrelated to narcotics.
“This is categorized as trade in the black market. The spread [of the tobacco] is problematic because it is distributed without expert or pharmaceutical approval, and this is a criminal act,” said Agung Yudha, deputy head of the Narcotics Unit at the South Jakarta Police, as quoted by Metro TV yesterday.
Agung added that the police may conduct raids in the city if the spread of the Gorilla Super Tobacco becomes larger, particularly among university students who are known to be its biggest consumers.
Ten grams of the tobacco supposedly cost Rp 400 thousand. They are mostly sold online through social media platforms like Instagram and Twitter.
Previously, the police had to release dealers and users of the tobacco because they had no legal grounds to arrest them.
