15,000 VCDs seized from Glodok

JAKARTA (JP): Police continued their combat against pornography on Wednesday by seizing at least 15,000 video compact discs (VCDs) and arresting 35 street vendors in the capital's busy Glodok area in West Jakarta.

West Jakarta Police deputy chief Maj. Henky Kaluara said the street vendors were apprehended because they were guilty of distributing pornographic films.

"It's a routine operation and if we can only catch 35 traders, it's because they run off in various directions when they see officers approaching," he said when asked why the police took their time in arresting traders when it was common knowledge that pornographic films were readily available in the area.

Street vendors can be seen daily offering such merchandise to passersby in the Glodok area.

Police will process the arrested traders and build cases against them in a bid to get the distributors or suppliers of the mostly Western and Mandarin pornographic films, Henky said.

The traders were taken to police headquarters for questioning and will be kept in custody there.

The traders will be charged under the Criminal Code's Article 282 on indecency which carries a maximum penalty of 18 months imprisonment and a fine of up to Rp 3,000 (less than 40 U.S.cents).

"Each disc sells for Rp 7,500 and we only earn a Rp 2,500 profit on each," Martin, one of the traders, said.

Martin and several other traders declined to name who was behind the distribution.

He said someone supplied the discs and in two or three days a different person would pick up the money.

When asked whether he had watched any of the films, Martin said he had but had became dizzy afterward. (emf)