Police seek Singaporean mastermind<\/p>\n
Haidir Anwar Tanjung, The Jakarta Post, Pekanbaru, Riau<\/p>\n
Riau Police said on Wednesday that they are searching for a
\nSingaporean and his Indonesian accomplice suspected of
\ntrafficking women to work as prostitutes in Malaysia.<\/p>\n
Riau Police arrested five members of two gangs in Tanjung
\nPinang, Riau Islands province, over the weekend, including three
\nMalaysians and two Indonesians, after a month-long surveillance
\noperation.<\/p>\n
Riau Police chief Brig. Gen. Deddy Sutardi Komaruddin said
\nthey believed the Singaporean, identified only as James, was the
\nbrains of the operation. His Indonesian accomplice was identified
\nas Aan.<\/p>\n
The five arrested suspects, including Malaysians Chai Shong
\nHin, 31, Tang Meng Yeew, 22, and Chay Fook Chong, 30, were being
\ndetained at Riau Police headquarters for further questioning,
\nDeddy said.<\/p>\n
"We also have 10 victims who were to be sent to Malaysia and
\nwe are holding them as witnesses in the two separate trafficking
\ncases," he said.<\/p>\n
The victims were named as Maryati, 18, from Kerawang, West
\nJava, Fitri, 23, and Dita, 24, from Jember, East Java, Mira, 29,
\nfrom Semarang, Central Java, and Mariani, 23, from Jakarta.<\/p>\n
"We also received information from National Police
\nHeadquarters that seven more victims in the trafficking cases
\nhave been secured by the Indonesian Embassy in Kuala Lumpur,"
\nDeddy said.<\/p>\n
Tanjung Pinang Police chief Adj. Sr. Comr. Widodo Eko
\nPrihastopo had said Chai Shong and Tang Meng were arrested on
\nSaturday at Paradise Hotel along with two local women who were to
\nbe trafficked for 3,500 ringgit each to serve as prostitutes in
\nMalaysia.<\/p>\n
The Malaysian suspects claimed that it was their first time
\noperating in Tanjung Pinang, Eko said on Monday. However, the
\nhotel management said the two Malaysian citizens were frequent
\ncustomers.<\/p>\n
Their passports also showed they had visited Tanjung Pinang
\nseveral times, Eko added.<\/p>\n
The two women told police that they were to be employed as
\nprostitutes at a karaoke center in Kuala Lumpur.<\/p>\n
Eko said Chay Fook, the third Malaysian suspect, was caught at
\nthe Sri Bintan Pura seaport on Sunday. Chay worked along with
\nlocal citizens Zoni, 30, and Septiani Dwi Riyanti, alias Ria, 29,
\nwho had both been arrested earlier last week.<\/p>\n
Deddy said police would charge all the suspects under Article
\n297, 378 and 506 of the Criminal Code on human trafficking, which
\ncarries a minimum penalty of six years in prison.<\/p>\n
He said Riau Police had cooperated with their Malaysian
\ncounterparts and Interpol to fight practices of human trafficking
\nin the region.<\/p>\n
The Malaysian consul for Riau, Abdul Samad Othman, visited the
\nMalaysian detainees on Wednesday.<\/p>\n
He said the Malaysian government was ready to provide lawyers
\nfor the suspects if their families, now in Tanjung Pinang, could
\nnot afford to do so.<\/p>",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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