Foreigner shot dead in Tanah Abang drug bust

JAKARTA (JP): A drug trafficker was shot dead when he attempted to escape arrest in Tanah Abang, Central Jakarta on Thursday.

Tanah Abang Police chief Sr. Insp. Angista Romana Yoyol identified the suspect late on Thursday as Ken Kihogi alias Ben alias Ali, 35, who had been staying in a hotel near the scene. A copy of a Kenyan passport was found on him. However, Yoyol said traffickers usually used fake passports.

The suspect was shot during a transaction set up by police on Jl. Petamburan.

"The police also confiscated 70 grams of heroin found in a pocket of his pants," said Yoyol, adding that the drug was mostly in the form of crystals and was encased in a condom.

The incident occurred after the arrest two weeks ago of seven alleged drug dealers who reportedly sold drugs in Tanah Abang through a mediator. The mediator, identified as Tuti, was captured on Tuesday. Tuti was sent by police to meet Kihogi on Thursday, after earlier attempts failed.

Kihogi managed to escape from five policemen at the site. He ignored warning shots and was then shot in the thigh, Yoyol said. The suspect kept running and struggled when he was captured again, he added.

"There was no other way. We had to immobilize him," said Yoyol.

The last shot hit the suspect in the chest, which killed him. His body was later taken to the morgue of Cipto Mangunkusumo General Hospital in Central Jakarta.

On Jan. 12, four suspected members of what police believe to be an international drug syndicate were also shot dead by police during a raid in South Jakarta, in which 1.6 kilograms of heroin and 15 kilograms of cocaine and US$6,000 in cash were seized.

The four were from Liberia, Nigeria, Togo and the Ivory Coast. On the same day, seven Indonesians, believed to be helping them, were arrested at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport.

One of the Indonesian suspects said he had smuggled drugs from Pakistan and Thailand to Jakarta. (07)