Investigators from the Directorate of Certain Crimes (Dittipidter) of the National Police (Polri) have put two people on the wanted list (DPO) in connection with cases of acute kidney failure among children in Indonesia.

Head of the public information section of Polri’s public relations division, Senior Commissioner Nurul Azizah, said that the two perpetrators were identified as E, the president director of CV Samudera Chemical, and AR, the director of CV Samudera Chemical.

Their DPO list issuance was based on their whereabouts remaining unknown after investigators found evidence of the mixing of propylene glycol (PG), which is suspected of containing ethylene glycol (EG) and diethylene glycol (DEG), by the company on November 9, 2022.

“Therefore, investigators published a DPO list for the two perpetrators with numbers B/12163/XI/2022/Bareskrim dated November 25, 2022, on behalf of E and B/16164/XI/2022/Bareskrim dated November 25, 2022, on behalf of AR,” Azizah informed in Jakarta on Tuesday.

The investigators first named two companies as suspects, namely, pharmaceutical company PT Afi Farma and the supplier company for medicinal raw materials, CV Samudera Chemical, in relation to drugs syrup contamination with chemicals EG and DEG, which have been strongly suspected of causing acute kidney failure in children.

EG/DEG is a compound that has a simple structure, but a high level of toxicity. It has been regulated by the European Food Safety Agency (EFSA) and the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and has been included in the list of toxic substances. Therefore, its use is prohibited in Indonesia, she informed.

While the use of PG is permitted as a solvent and carrier for substances that are unstable or insoluble in water. The safe threshold for EG/DEG contamination is 0.1 percent.

However, based on their testing, samples of 42 propylene glycol (PG) drums taken by investigators contained EG and DEG exceeding the standard threshold of 50 percent to 99 percent.

“Investigators have confiscated evidence related to the incident and secured it directly to the state storage house for confiscated objects in North Jakarta,” she informed.

In addition, investigators summoned and examined six witnesses in connection with the case, who have been identified by their initials as T, A, H, W, DS, and ML.

Source: Antara News