1,500 arrested in past three weeks' operation
1,500 arrested in past three weeks' operation
JAKARTA (JP): City Military Command has apprehended 1,551 people for various violations during Operation Cleansing which began on Nov. 11.
He said that 537 of the apprehended people were gamblers, 509 were people with no ID cards, 251 drunkards, 89 three-in-one kids, 83 students involved in brawls, 56 street criminals and 26 touts.
Spokesman Lt. Col. Didi Supandi said on Saturday that the military had also confiscated two 22 mm Colt firearms with 54 bullets, one kilogram of marijuana, 83 sharp weapons, 3,606 bottles of alcohol and more than 3,000 barbiturate pills from the detainees.
The pistols and bullets were confiscated from a bogus army sergeant, Agus Nawan Panjaitan, Didi said.
Agus was arrested in Parung, West Java on Nov. 29 following local inhabitants' tips that the "sergeant" frequently committed armed robbery in the streets of Parung, Sawangan and other subdistricts in South Jakarta. Agus was jailed in 1993 on similar charges.
The marijuana was confiscated from an alleged dealer, identified as Syahrul Amin, alias Bob. He was caught when reportedly selling the contraband to Tjang Tjang on Jl. Bungur Besar, Central Jakarta, the spokesman said.
According to Didi, Syahrul said that he had been dealing in marijuana since 1984 and bought the product from friends, identified as Yusuf and Armen, at Rp 1.6 million per kilogram. Yusuf and Armen are still at large.
Three other alleged traffickers, identified as Edi Sulistyo alias Bakin, Herri Sularto and Syahrul Alamsyah were among the arrestees.
They have allegedly been supplying drugs to senior high school students in Ciracas, East Jakarta since 1992, Didi said.
City Military Command has mobilized 4,000 personnel, including a 650-strong motorcycle unit, to back up police in Operation Cleansing.
"We hope Operation Cleansing decreases the number of crimes in the city so that people feel secure," Didi said.
In a related development, 90 entertainment centers were closed down for between three and four days by the city administration during a series of raids which began in April.
The head of the city office of public order, Toha Reno, said that the entertainment centers which are located in all mayoralties were closed for violating operational hours. "Some of them had no operation permits," he said.
Toha said 110 officials were involved in the operation.
His office warned 19 other entertainment centers for similar violations.
Last year's Operation Cleansing conducted by the military and police led to the capture of more than 1,000 people charged with various crimes. Almost four million tablets or capsules of restricted drugs and some marijuana, a half a million bottles of alcoholic drinks and more than 300 firearms and sharp weapons were confiscated last year. (29)