10 notorious freight robbers apprehended
JAKARTA (JP): Police detectives have nabbed 10 members of the two most wanted freight robbery gangs during separate raids this week, city police chief Maj. Gen. Noegroho Djajoesman said yesterday.
"During interrogation, the suspects specializing in cargo robberies admitted to having committed at least 18 thefts, mostly of trailers on toll roads and streets between Jakarta and (the West Java capital of) Bandung," Noegroho told media after installing North Jakarta's new police chief.
Officers, he said, are still calculating the material losses but Noegroho estimated that the amount could be in the hundreds of billions of rupiah (tens of millions of U.S. dollars).
According to city police spokesman Lt. Col. E. Aritonang, six of the suspects were apparently members of a gang led by Cecep, 48, a container trailer driver.
"Cecep and five of his gang members were arrested at different places, such as Tanjung Priok and Sunter Podomoro, in North Jakarta, between Sunday and Wednesday," Aritonang said.
He identified the five suspects as Sarkum, Bambang Suprianto, Kuswon, Rohman, and Lou Kiam Hong, aged between 24 and 46.
On Sunday, he said, Cecep, who worked for a cargo company identified only as PT BA, was assigned by his employer to transport cooking oil from PT SM and PT DX in Kuningan, West Java, to Tanjung Priok port in North Jakarta.
The cooking oil was supposed to be shipped to the Philippines, Aritonang said.
"Cecep then informed his gang about his mission and set up a strategy to hijack the freight. Every inch of their moves was carefully monitored by our detectives," he explained.
They were raided while trying to unload 19 drums of cooking oil from the trailer onto the gang's truck.
"We confiscated the two vehicles and the cooking oil as evidence," Aritonang said.
Based on a preliminary investigation, police then learned that the group usually unloaded the cargo at warehouses at the port.
The other four arrested suspects were members of a second group, led by Henry, 33.
The gang leader and his three members, Sakar, 22, Saliman, 46 and Buding, 48, were captured in Serang, West Java, Tanjung Priok and Tugu, both in North Jakarta.
This group specialized in robbing containers filled with garments, threads and perfumes.
"Police believe that these suspects were only one part of a huge freight robbery network. Why? Because their methods are considered sophisticated and organized," Aritonang said.
Henry's group operated on toll roads connecting Jakarta and Bandung by hijacking the trucks and emptying the cargoes, he said.
"They opened the cargo's seal and sometimes took, if not all, a huge part of the merchandise," Aritonang said.
The officer quoted the arrested suspects as saying that each of them received between Rp 5 million and Rp 7 million after each successful operation.
All of the suspects are currently detained at city police headquarters for further questioning.
In a bid to curb freight robbery and looting, the Jakarta Police have set up special teams to monitor and take action against the criminals.
"We currently have at least four special teams deployed in Greater Jakarta to crack down on criminals, especially the looters and robbers.
"Each team consists of members of the detective unit, intelligence, rapid reaction unit and mobile brigade. They are all working around the clock," said Noegroho.
Yesterday he installed Lt. Col. Setyanto, former police chief for the East Timor capital of Dili, as the new North Jakarta Police chief, replacing Lt. Col. Rismawan. (edt)