Insiders suspected of leaking plans on raids: Mayor

Insiders suspected of leaking plans on raids: Mayor

JAKARTA (JP): Officials in command of fighting drugs in
Jakarta said on Wednesday they suspected an inside leak after a
second raid came up empty-handed for contraband or suspects.

"Most foreign guests at the hotels that we inspected this
morning had already checked out when we arrived. Perhaps someone
who knew about the plans warned them," Central Jakarta Mayor Andi
S. Abdullah said after a raid on Wednesday also met with failure.

"But it is more likely that drug trafficking in the area is so
well-organized that even the police have failed to track it
down."

Although no drug suspects were found, officials detained five
nationals of African countries and a Saudi for immigration
violations. Four of them were unable to show their passports and
the others overstayed their visas.

The raid, carried out jointly by the mayoralty office, city
police and immigration office, was conducted on the Central Hotel
on the main Pramuka road, Cempaka Putih subdistrict, and Tanah
Abang Indah Hotel in Tanah Abang subdistrict.

Detained were Marcel C. Ezea, Hyginus Noubisi Ezeah,
Vafraokwor Paulinus Ejike and Vincent Ekekwe from Nigeria,
Abdullah M.S. Abuharbash from Saudi Arabia and Clement A. Ketor,
known in the neighborhood as "Madam Blecing", from Togo.

An immigration official said four of the African nationals
used their passports as collateral in doing business with their
local partners, who later submitted the passports to the
mayoralty office.

Ketor was immediately taken to the immigration quarantine
facility for illegally operating a restaurant at the Hanover
Building in Tanah Abang.

The first raid, carried out earlier this month, detained 22
Africans for visa overstays. They are now awaiting deportation.

Andi said the raid was aimed at apprehending drug producers
and dealers who, he added, officials believed were mostly from
African countries.

Dozens of residents of Kampung Bali, an area in Tanah Abang
subdistrict known as a center of drug activities, staged a
peaceful protest on Wednesday in front of Hotel Indonesia, a
designated hotel for newly elected legislators.

The protesters, calling themselves the People's Movement
Against Drugs (Geram), urged lawmakers to step up the fight
against drugs. (01)