Five Africans shot dead

JAKARTA (JP): Five foreigners believed to be from African countries and members of an international drug syndicate were shot dead during a police raid which ended in a shooting in South Jakarta on late Wednesday evening.

None of the detectives, led by head of Jakarta Police detectives Col. Alex Bambang Riatmodjo were injured in the shooting which took place at 9 p.m. at a house on Jl. Cempaka Dua Dalam in Cepete. Two revolvers were seized during the raid.

Alex told The Jakarta Post at the scene that the identities of the five Africans were being withheld since they used different names from time to time.

The raid at the house, rented by the five foreigners, was carried out after police seized some seven kilograms of cocaine from an Indonesian couple at Soekarno-Hatta Airport. The couple were about to bring the drug to Canada and London via Hong Kong on a flight early in the afternoon.

"We've been observing these members of a big international drugs ring for at least three years. We have several times attempted to bust this gang, but there had been a lack of evidence," Alex said.

According to the officer, the five had been on the police list for the past three years as the biggest suppliers of cocaine and heroin to Jakarta.

"They had just arrived with the drug from London, via India and Nepal, before hiring the Indonesian couple to bring the cocaine to London and Canada on the same day," Alex said.

A kilogram of cocaine has a street price of some Rp 600 million here, he added. (ylt/bsr)