Four suspected drug dealers arrested
Damar Harsanto, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Jakarta Police announced on Tuesday they had arrested four suspected drug dealers and confiscated 4.2 kilograms of shabu- shabu (crystal methamphetamine), a liter of liquid methamphetamine, 50 grams of heroin and six kilograms of marijuana.
"The suspects were arrested over the last two weeks. They are part of three different drug rings," the Jakarta Police's top drug cop, Adj. Sr. Comr. Anjan P. Putra, said.
The arrests bring the number of major drug busts in the capital this year up to 10.
The first two suspects -- Ong Ye An Tey, 35, alias Yanti, and Fatimah Wijaya, 34, alias Baby -- were arrested on Jl. Raya Pluit in North Jakarta.
Police were tipped off that the two suspects were headed to Muara Angke, North Jakarta, to make a drug sale.
Police arrested and interrogated the pair before raiding Yanti's house in the Taman Duta Mas housing complex in West Jakarta. There they found six bags of shabu-shabu weighing a total of 3.2 kilograms and methamphetamine.
Separately, police arrested Affandi, 20, at the Kemiri market in Depok, south of Jakarta.
Affandi was nabbed by police officers posing as drug buyers. They seized three kilograms of marijuana from the suspect.
Police then searched Affandi's house in Jagakarsa, South Jakarta, where they found three more kilograms of marijuana.
Another drug suspect, Martin Anderson, alias Belo, 39, a Ghanese national, was arrested on Jl. Boulevard Raya in Kelapa Gading, North Jakarta. Police confiscated 50 grams of heroin from the suspect.
"We had to shoot the suspect in his leg when he punched and choked a police detective when we attempted to arrest him," Anjan said.
He said police were searching for two more suspected drug dealers. The suspects were identified as Tony, a Nigerian, who allegedly sold heroin to Belo, and Iwan who allegedly sold marijuana to Affandi.
There have been 1,012 drug-related offenses from January to June this year. Last year, the number of such offenses soared by 44 percent to 2,642 from 1,831 in 2001.
At least 21 drug traffickers have been sentenced to death by the courts since January 2000, but none of have been executed.
On Monday, South Jakarta Police shot dead three suspected drug traffickers, Wily Wira, 44, Akwan, 40, and Cheong Hoi Eng, 44, a citizen of the People's Republic of China.
Police seized 2.3 kilograms of shabu-shabu from three apartments rented by the suspects. Officers also seized 11,000 ecstasy pills from a fourth apartment rented by the suspects.