Former boxing champion arrested for drug dealing

Abdul Khalik, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Former world boxing champion Ellias Pical, 48, was arrested early on Wednesday for selling ecstasy pills to police detectives in a nightclub in Taman Sari, West Jakarta.

City Police spokesman Sr. Comr. Tjiptono said that Ellias was apprehended together with a female friend identified as Lisdianah, 33, at 00:30 a.m. at Miles disco while offering for sale three ecstasy pills to undercover police officers.

"Lisdianah was the middlewoman who led us to Ellias. He offered three ecstasy pills to our undercover detectives for Rp 300,000," Tjiptono said.

Tjiptono said that Ellias, a resident of Kunciran, Tangerang, Banten province, had been detained at city police headquarters.

Ellias, who works at the disco as a security guard, was the first Indonesian to become a world boxing champion after beating Korean boxer Judo Chun in 1985.

With his strong left hook, he defended his title after successively beating six title challengers.

In 1989, he lost his title to Colombian Juan Polo Perez in a fight in Virginia, the United States and failed to regain his title in the rematch the following year.

During his recent interview with The Jakarta Post, he said finding a steady job after his boxing career ended had not been easy.

He has also complained of the government "dumping him" after he lost his title.

Ellias, who was born in Ambon, Maluku in 1957, dropped out of elementary school to train as a boxer.

Tjiptono said that earlier they also arrested two other drug dealers, identified as AAH, 24, and Dede Jaenudin, 25, in the Athena nightclub in Tambora, West Jakarta.

"They seized 16 ecstasy pills from them. We are tracking down the supplier of all the arrested suspects," he said.