17 drug store robbers nabbed

JAKARTA: The Jakarta Police detectives have arrested 17 members of a robbery syndicate led by a man called Ishak. They were arrested in a month-long operation and are believed to be responsible for at least 54 robberies in several cities in the past two years.

Police seized five firearms, 53 bullets, three crowbars, a large wire cutter, a Toyota Kijang minivan and hundreds of packs of prescription drugs.

"Although we arrested the leader, Ishak, we are still hunting down other members of the syndicate, since we are speeding up operations against robberies before the election runoff (on Sept. 20)," city police chief Insp. Gen. Firman Gani told reporters on Friday.

Of the 54 robberies, 33 were drug stores while the remaining 21 were houses, distributor stores, gas stations and companies. They told the police that they also sold the medicine to illegal drug sellers.

Besides Jakarta, the group also operates in West Java, East Java, Lampung and Bali. -- JP