17 drug store robbers nabbed

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