Iranian national apprehended for trading heroin
Iranian national apprehended for trading heroin
JAKARTA (JP): Police have arrested an Iranian man for trying
to sell 200 grams of heroin to an undercover city police
detective at a hotel in Central Jakarta.
The suspect, who was an ex-police officer in his country, was
identified as Mansour Abbasi, 38, Maj. Indawan, head of the
city's police anti-narcotics squad told reporters.
Police seized plastic bags containing the contraband, worth
around Rp 30 million (US$13,000) on the black market here, from
Abbasi, according to Indawan, who was accompanied by City Police
spokesman Lt. Col. Iman Haryatna.
Abbasi was arrested during the transaction at room 224 of the
Permata Hotel on Jl. Suryopranoto at around 1 a.m. on Wednesday
last week.
"He was shot once in his left leg while trying to throw the
bags away and attack me as I showed him my police I.D.," said the
undercover officer, who refused to be named.
Abbasi told The Jakarta Post that he got the heroin from
someone in Bangkok who asked him to hand it over to someone named
Bahman, a Canadian-passport holder, here.
"The person promised I would be paid $3,000," Abbasi said in
English. "But, I don't know where Bahman is now," he added.
According to spokesman Iman, the heroin, kept in seven small
plastic bags, was swallowed by Abbasi before leaving for Jakarta
on Jan. 11.
"He picked them out from his feces soon after he arrived
here," Iman said.
Stamps in Abbasi's passport reveal that he has visited several
places in Southeast Asia, including Johor Bahru in Malaysia,
Singapore, Pattaya in Thailand and South Korea.
As part of their routine operations, the city police anti-
narcotics squad recently received information about the
activities of a number of foreigners who sell heroin and other
types of harmful drugs on Jl. Jaksa, the city's street famed for
cheap tourist hotels.
Indawan said the plainclothes detective obtained information
about the Iranian drug seller from someone on Jl. Jaksa.
The detective, pretending to be interested in buying the
heroin, met Abbasi at a hotel on Jl. Sabang in the early hours of
Jan. 15 and arranged a meeting for the next day.
"On the way to the hotel on the next day the suspect appeared
hesitant when he saw a car following him and changed the meeting
place to the Menteng Hotel," Indawan said.
Finally, he decided to meet in the early hours on Jan. 17 at
the 24-hour McDonald restaurant on Jl. Thamrin, Indawan said.
From the restaurant, Abbasi asked the "buyer" to join him in a
car to go to the nearby Sogo shopping center.
At the bus stop in front of the shopping center, they took a
taxi and changed to another taxi in front of the Ministry of
Information on Jl. Medan Merdeka Barat before heading to the
Permata Hotel.
After confirming that the commodity was heroin, the undercover
office revealed his detective badge, shocking the Iranian who
quickly snatched the plastic bags and tried to throw the drugs
through the window of the hotel room.
"Knowing that the window was still closed, Abbasi tried to
attack the detective who produced a gun and shot the suspect in
his left leg,"Indawan said. (bsr)