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)