Six airport porters arrested for stealing luggage<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Police have captured six porters and two fences
\nspecializing in baggage theft at the Soekarno-Hatta International
\nAirport over the past two weeks.<\/p>\n
All six porters worked for PT Jakadara, the sole firm
\nentrusted with moving baggage from planes' storage sections to
\nthe luggage retrieval belts at the airport.<\/p>\n
\"We are continuing the investigation to check whether other
\nemployees of the company were also involved in the theft,\" City
\nPolice spokesman Lt. Col. Latief Rabar said yesterday.<\/p>\n
PT Jakadara employs around 300 porters.<\/p>\n
According to Latief, the six usually stole passengers'
\nproperty in the plane's baggage hold while unloading the luggage
\nfrom the plane.<\/p>\n
Police identified the six suspected porters as Ramli, 29, a
\nresident of Duri Kosambi, West Jakarta; Waludin, 28, a resident
\nof Jatinegara, East Jakarta; Sudjimin, 27, a resident of
\nCilandak, South Jakarta; Deden Jaelani, 21, a resident of
\nPengadegan, South Jakarta; Firdaus, 25, and Eddy Mulyadi, 20. The
\naddresses of the latter, who were captured Sunday evening, were
\nnot disclosed.<\/p>\n
Aside from the six, on Wednesday the police arrested the two
\nfences who allegedly bought the stolen goods. The fences were
\nidentified as Tjong Po Sie, alias David, 34, a resident of Jl.
\nRaya Kedoya, West Jakarta, and Ricky Viktor Liem, 25, a resident
\nof Taman Dutamas, West Jakarta.<\/p>\n
Latief said police began their investigation into the theft
\nafter receiving complaints from Merpati airlines that two of its
\npassengers, identified as Mrs. Sahra and Mrs. Siregar, had lost
\ntheir baggage at the Cengkareng airport on July 12 and July 20
\nrespectively.<\/p>\n
Jewelry<\/p>\n
Mrs. Sahra, who flew from Ujungpandang, South Sulawesi, to
\nJakarta reportedly lost jewelry valued in the tens of millions of
\nrupiah from her bag.<\/p>\n
Mrs. Siregar, who flew from Palembang, South Sumatra, to
\nJakarta reported to the airline company that she had lost jewelry
\nand a dozen other items, including a camera, pens and two bottles
\nof perfume, worth a total of Rp 20 million (US$9,310) from her
\nbags.<\/p>\n
Both have received compensation for their losses from Merpati.<\/p>\n
After receiving the reports, police conducted an investigation
\nand determined that the thefts must have occurred between the
\nunloading process and the transferring of the baggage via
\nvehicles to the baggage retrieval room.<\/p>\n
Three days later they captured porters Ramli and Waludin who
\nwere on duty on July 12 and July 20.<\/p>\n
During the ensuing interrogation, Ramli and Waludin admitted
\nto having committed the theft. They told the police that theft
\nwas a common practice among the many porters. They said they
\nsimply rummaged through unlocked baggage while doing the
\nunloading.<\/p>\n
Sometimes, they said, they had even broken the locks.<\/p>\n
Police then developed the investigation and arrested the rest
\nof the suspects, including David and Ricky. Police confiscated
\njewelry worth tens of millions of rupiah from the suspects.<\/p>\n
Police believe such thefts have been going on for quite some
\ntime. They are urging the public to report any thefts of luggage
\nor from their baggage immediately, so that they can eliminate the
\nillegal practice. (jsk)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/six-airport-porters-arrested-for-stealing-luggage-1447893297",
"image": ""
},
"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
}