18 arrested for stealing diesel fuel

JAKARTA (JP): Military police have arrested 18 people in Tanjung Priok harbor, North Jakarta, for alleged involvement in a conspiracy to steal diesel fuel.

Military Police Chief Maj. Gen. Syamsu D. said Saturday they were believed to have stolen fuel since 1993.

Syamsu, in a press release, said the crime had caused an estimated financial loss of Rp 24 billion (US$9.6 million) to the state.

Syamsu said those arrested included the captain and engine room chief of the Sea Endeavor ship which carried the Indonesian flag, crew members of a barge and a tug boat. Military police seized the three vessels for evidence.

Also arrested was a surveyor of PT Indola Para Muda, a security chief of PT Pertamina Maxus, an off-shore drilling company, and an officer of PT Wulder, a firm supervising the solar pump meter.

"They were arrested red-handed at Maxus's dock in Tanjung Priok on Friday," Syamsu said.

City Police Spokesman Lt. Col. E. Aritonang said all the alleged suspects were from companies which cooperated with Maxus in the supplying and delivering of diesel fuel to Maxus' 18 ships, including the Sea Endeavor.

"For example, if Maxus ordered 100 kiloliters of fuel to be loaded to the Sea Endeavor, not all of the fuel was loaded to the ship, because half of the load actually flowed to the barge's container. The barge then sold the fuel off-shore at a lower price of Rp 190 per liter," Aritonang said.

Syamsu said there were suspicions that military personnel were involved, "but this was proved wrong".

Meanwhile, the city military Saturday conducted raids on illicit gambling dens in Mangga Besar, West Jakarta.

Alleged gamblers, consisting of 209 men, 16 women and an army veteran, were arrested during the raids on an illicit gambling center at Jl. Pangeran Jayakarta 45 and the Paramount on Jl. Hayam Wuruk.

City Military Spokesman Lt. Col. D.J. Nachrowi said yesterday they confiscated gambling paraphernalia, including a roulette table, a baccarat table and coins as well as Rp 42 million in cash.

"We also seized valuable goods and documents used by the alleged gamblers as collateral valued at around Rp 126 million," Nachrowi said. (cst)