99 people detained for gambling on cockfights
99 people detained for gambling on cockfights
JAKARTA (JP): The police have arrested at least 99 people who
have been involved in card games and gambling on cockfights over
the past few days.
The police also confiscated around Rp 4 million (US$1,860) in
cash from the gamblers.
Most of the gamblers caught were ethnic Chinese or members of
the Armed Forces (ABRI) head of the operational affairs of the
On-the-Alert city police squad, Capt. Syaiful Bd., told reporters
yesterday.
The suspects were arrested in four separate raids by the squad
operation called Operasi Wallet (Swallow Operation).
The latest action was carried out at 2 a.m. Tuesday when
police stormed a house, used as a gambling den, on Jl. Hidup
Baru, Pademangan Barat, in North Jakarta. Eight people were
arrested and tables for the dice game Kopro were confiscated.
Kopro is a game where the outcome of a roll of the dice is bet
on.
On Monday, the team made raids at two separate places.
The first took place at a house on Jl. Budimulyo, also
Pademangan Barat district. The afternoon ambush ended with seven
people arrested.
In the evening, another seven people were nabbed at a site on
Jl. Gunung Sahari in Central Jakarta along with Kopro tables.
77 people
The operation reached its height on Wednesday afternoon of
last week, when the team nabbed a total of 77 people of various
professions and seized 14 cocks at a well-organized cock-fighting
site in Ciracas, East Jakarta.
Located behind the Super Mie noodle factory, police believe
that the gambling there had been going on for many years with the
backing of several ABRI members.
"We came to the location only after we got information about
the operation from the public," Syaiful said.
The arrested included five active ABRI members, a dozen
retired ABRI officers, a lawyer, a veterinarian and an elementary
school teacher.
The veterinarian, identified as Helmi Suwardi of Depok, is
believed to have treated the game cocks prior to and after the
fights.
Syaiful said that the owner of the site is Susanto, believed
to have also provided the four-square-meter arena for the cocks
to fight in.
However, only three of the 77 people were detained, as by law
the police cannot detain anyone facing a prison term of less than
five years. But they are under house arrest and are required to
regularly report to the police. During a certain period of time
they are not allowed to go out of town or abroad.
"We will detain the others if they are found guilty of
committing other crimes," Syaiful said.
The three now in police custody at the City Police
Headquarters are the owner of the place, the man who ran the
gambling and the referee. (bsr)