Gambling suspects detained

Damar Harsanto, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

A total of 37 gambling suspects have been arrested since Oct. 25 during a police crackdown on illegal activities such as gambling and the sale of firecrackers, alcohol and drugs.

Jakarta Police spokesman Sr. Comr. Anton Bachrul Alam said that the suspects were mainly illegal lottery ticket sellers and agents with turnovers of between Rp 5 million (less than US$500) and Rp 10 million per day.

Anton said the police would now seek to arrest the big players, saying that their names were already known to the police.

The police also confiscated 213 lottery record books, 227 lottery tickets and Rp 2 million in cash.

Under Article 303 of the Criminal Code, gambling is a crime and carries upon conviction a maximum sentence of two-years-and- eight-months imprisonment.

During the crackdown, code-named operation Sadar Jaya IX, the police also raided a number of firecracker storehouses.

"From two storehouses in Tanah Abang, Central Jakarta, we confiscated enough firecrackers to fill up a truck. We also detained three suspects," Anton said.

As stipulated in the 1939 Law on firecrackers, the production, vending or transporting/carrying of firecrackers can result in a three-month prison sentence.

Although most people are aware that the selling of firecrackers is illegal, firecracker stalls are to be found hawking their wares all across the capital.

During the same operation, the police also arrested 23 suspects on drug trafficking charges and 11 suspects on charges of illegally selling alcohol, Anton said.

From various places in Central Jakarta alone, the police seized 32,780 banned pills, 43.7 grams of marijuana, 8.8 grams of heroin and 302 bottles of alcoholic beverages.