With more than $160,000 worth of product now in police hands, one would think that business at the Glodok retail center, where the raid took place, would be slow. But according to an anonymous local vendor, the merchants continue to meet the high demand for porn.
“We now open after 12 [a.m.] to avoid police raids,” the vendor said.
But not all vendors are so brazen.
“We don't sell that stuff here anymore,” Dedi, another local vendor, said. “I used to sell those sorts of films, but not since the raid.”
Dedi went on to suggest that not all is as it seems with adult DVDs in Indonesia. According to the vendor, who has been at the market for five years, many of the DVDs come in seductive boxes but contain nothing more than Indonesia women singing traditional songs.
Porn or not, Police Chief Edward Syah Pernong vowed that his agency would continue to raid porn outlets.
Adult material continues to play a controversial role in the predominantly Muslim nation of Indonesia. On the one hand, religious leaders want porn — liberally defined — banned; on the other hand, it’s a commodity in high demand.
The recently released edition of Playboy Indonesia, without nudity, has sold out, according to reports. However, the Islam Defenders Front (FPI) organized a rock-throwing assault on the company’s local offices to protest the new magazine.
