Jakarta thugs return with avengeance on city streets

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

After disappearing for a while, Jakarta thugs are back on the city's streets, extorting money from motorists right under the noses of city public order officials.

City police, in close cooperation with the city administration and military personnel, launched massive campaigns against thugs last July after people complained to President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono about their presence in the capital.

The operations, which saw dozens of thugs arrested, managed to remove them from the streets, but public transportation drivers said on Wednesday that the hoodlums had returned to public markets, streets, public transportation vehicles and terminals, demanding money from motorists and bus passengers.

"They have returned and are demanding money from us (public transportation drivers). They were only hiding for the past month," said the driver of a public minivan plying the route between Tanah Abang and Kebayoran Lama on Wednesday.

"From the beginning, I have been unconvinced that police were really serious in cracking down on thugs," said the 45-year-old driver, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Thugs in Tanah Abang and surrounding areas have long been notorious. Motorists are often forced to pay money when passing through Jl. Kebon Jati, Jl. Farchruddin and other streets near the Tanah Abang Market.

On Wednesday, a thug was seen demanding money from a goods delivery driver who had already given him Rp 1,000 (10 cents U.S.) for passing through Jl. Kebon Jati in Central Jakarta. Immediately after paying this, another thug showed up and demanded his share, for which the driver paid another Rp 1,000.

Meanwhile, a thug roughly returned Rp 200 to a passenger of public bus that passed by Jl. Kebon Jati. He demanded that the passenger give him Rp 500 instead.

Fearing that the thugs might scratch their cars, most motorists passing by these roads chose to give money to the hoodlums.

Similar scenes were taking place in Jl. K.S. Tubun, the Senen bus terminal and public market, Jl. Salemba near the University of Indonesia campus, and the Kampung Melayu bus terminal in East Jakarta.

Thugs are also operating in public buses, asking for money from passengers. Although they were ostensibly not forcing passengers, most commuters felt compelled to give them money as some of the thugs were introducing themselves as former convicted criminals.

"We prefer to ask for money in this way rather than committing crimes. Giving us Rp 500 or Rp 1,000 will not make you poor," said a thug when asking for money from passengers riding a bus plying the Tanah Abang-Kampung Melayu route.

Most thugs disappeared in the days after police launched intensive raids against them in July. Many were arrested, but many others remained at large.

National Police spokesman Insp. Gen. Aryanto Boedihardjo said earlier that all regional police chiefs were involved in the operation aimed at ensuring public security. The crackdown, he said, was taking place on the streets, on public transportation vehicles and in other public places.

Thuggery has been common in major cities like Jakarta. The thugs, who are usually grouped based on ethnicity, have even divided the capital into areas of operation.