Foreign suspects busted with three kilograms of heroin
Damar Harsanto, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Only two days after police announced the arrest of a major drug dealer Friday, the police arrested on Monday three suspected drug traffickers and seized three kilograms of heroin from them valued at Rp 1.8 billion (US$211,765).
The suspects were identified as Seck Dusmane, 27, of Senegal; Ngemezulu Militon, 25, of Malawi; and Core Patrick Bosco, 30, of the Ivory Coast.
"They have been on the wanted list for a long time," Comr. Agus Irianto, chief of Tebet Police subprecinct in South Jakarta told reporters.
The three were captured at 1 a.m. on Monday in their rented rooms at guest house Eksekutif Panorama on Jl. Lebak Bulus II, Cilandak, South Jakarta.
It was the ninth big arrest in the city this year.
The police arrested the suspects thanks to information from Mahfud, 30, a small-time drug dealer, who was arrested on Saturday afternoon. Mahfud, a resident of Jl. T1, Kebon Baru, South Jakarta, was arrested on Jl. Tebet Barat Raya. The police confiscated two packages of putauw (low grade heroin) from him. He told police investigators that he had purchased the drug from African drug dealers.
Based on the information, police raided rooms 806, 807 and 804 of the guest house. In Dusmane's room, the police found 25 bags of heroin hidden in a refrigerator door. Each bag weighs 100 grams, totaling 2.5 kilograms.
In Militon's room, the police also discovered 20 bags of heroin weighing a total of 500 grams. Despite finding no drugs, in Bosco's room the police arrested him as they believe that he is also a member of the same drug syndicate.
According to Agus, the suspects ran a garment business as a cover to evade police.
"We are still hunting down other suspects in the drug ring," he said.
The suspects have violated Law No. 22/1997 on narcotics. If convicted, they could face the death sentence.
At least 21 people, mostly foreigners, have received the death sentence since January 2000 for smuggling drugs into the country. Six of them are women.
In the last case early this year, the court handed down the death sentence to Ang Kiem Soei, a Dutch passport holder who owned two ecstasy factories in Tangerang.
So far, none of the convicts has been executed.
Last Friday, police arrested Tony Taslim, 28, alias Washington, alias Ahua, a member of an international drug syndicate. They seized from him 12,000 ecstasy pills and two kilograms of shabu-shabu (crystal methamphetamine) worth Rp 2.5 billion. The police arrested him after receiving information from the Australian Federal Police, Hong Kong Police and police of the Republic of China.
Separately, Panda Nababan of House of Representatives Commission II overseeing laws, urged the Jakarta Police not to release suspects of drug crimes in exchange for bribes.
"We call on the police not to receive any bribes in exchange for the release of drug suspects," he told reporters on the sidelines of a meeting between 18 legislators of Commission II and officials of the Jakarta Police Headquarters.
Last week, the media reported at least two cases implicating policemen who had allegedly released drug suspects after they received bribes. One of the cases was in Central Jakarta and the other in West Jakarta.
Kebon Jeruk Police arrested last week two drug suspects Femi Andika, 22 and Yudi, 22, who had just consumed putauw in their car. Police found a syringe inside the car. One of the suspects was still wearing a civil servant's uniform of the Jakarta administration. A day after the arrest, police released the suspects, claiming they found insufficient evidence to detain them.
When asked about the case, Jakarta Police chief Insp. Gen. Makbul Padmanagara claimed that he had not received the report yet.
He called on the public to report any wrongdoing committed by his subordinates related to drug offenses.
He vowed that he would take stern action against policemen, regardless of their rank who were involved in drug crimes provided the information passed on to him was valid.