91 foreigners rounded up, 5 arrested

Evi Mariani, The Jakarta Post/Jakarta

An joint antidrug operation between the Jakarta Police, Jakarta Provincial Narcotics Agency (BNP), Jakarta Immigration Office and the city administration was unsuccessful in arresting foreign drugs suspects on Thursday. Instead, the officers detained five foreigners for being unable to produce their passports.

"We examined 91 foreigners and only five of them had problems with their passports, either they did not have a passport or they had more than one," the city police psychotropic substances unit chief Adj. Sr. Comr. Anjan P. Putra told the press.

The joint operation was conducted in several areas in Tanah Abang district including Kampung Bali, Petamburan I Hotel and Petamburan II Hotel in Petamburan and on Jl. Jaksa, all in Central Jakarta. No evidence of drug dealing was found during the operation.

Anjan said the raid was focused on those places because they were notorious for drug dealing allegedly involved foreigners.

The officers detained five foreigners: Thiokary Ali from Mali, Jaiteh Ismaila from Gambia, Camara Ali from Guinea, Wilson Chiskwemeka Oboiora from Nigeria and Pouambe Lyeste from Cameroon. They were taken to the BNP office on Jl. Trunojoyo, South Jakarta.

Except for Ismaila, who had two passports, the other four were arrested as they failed to show their passports.

Later in the afternoon, couriers brought to the BNP office the passports of the four foreigners. The BNP officers later handed them over to the immigration office for further investigation.

"The immigration office will decide what kind of measures should be taken," Anjan said.

Speaking about the failure to find drugs in the operation, Anjan was looking into the possibility that information on the planned operation had been leaked to the suspected dealers.

"We just hope that the raided areas are free of drugs," he said. "However, it is not easy to declare areas that are notorious for drug dealing clear of drugs."