Barbie pieces worth Rp 5.2b reported stolen

JAKARTA (JP): Jakarta Police detectives are investigating the theft of Barbie doll parts from PT Mattel Indonesia's factory in Cikarang, Bekasi.

According to a police source, it is suspected some Rp 5.25 billion (US$664,600) worth of the doll parts have been stolen from the factory since 1992.

"The police have just begun the investigation ... we suspect the stolen parts are sold to street vendors and peddlers, who then assemble them and sell the dolls at a greatly discounted price," the officer, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said on Wednesday.

"The alleged crime might have involved different groups of people inside and outside the factory, which employs some 7,000 workers. So we have lots of work to do," the officer said.

A complaint was filed at Jakarta Police Headquarters on Monday by the security chief of PT Mattel Indonesia, Arty Rochwiyanto.

Contacted on Wednesday, Arty said the company recently became aware of the thefts after learning that a number of its dolls were being sold on the streets of the capital by vendors.

He said the dolls being sold on the street were assembled from parts meant for different doll models.

"A Ken doll, for example, has a different skin color for the torso, legs, arms and head. An (original) doll produced at our plant would have the correct skin color for each body part," he said.

On the streets of the capital, company employees have seen one of Mattel's doll models with white skin for the torso, instead of the official darker skin color, he added.

He said the factory price of an authentic Ken doll was approximately $7, or about Rp 54,500, while the street vendors were selling their fake Ken dolls for Rp 35,000 each.

"The doll (parts) are usually stored in our factory's warehouse, but we are still not sure where and when the thefts actually took place. I'm still waiting for the police to find out something for us."

The California-based Mattel Inc., one of the world's largest toy manufacturers, started producing and exporting Barbie dolls from its Cikarang plant, some 40 kilometers east of here, in late 1992. (ylt)