Lesotho man nabbed for dealing drugs

JAKARTA: Police arrested a citizen of Lesotho, Ramakau Jonas, 32, outside a Hero grocery store in Ciputat, South Jakarta, on Monday and charged him with dealing drugs.

The head of the Jakarta Police's narcotics division, Sr. Comr. Jackson Laponga, said on Tuesday that the suspect had been wanted by the police since 2000.

Officers reportedly found on the suspect 50 grams of heroin, which has a street value of Rp 14.5 million.

Ramakau, who told police he was a vendor in Central Jakarta and married to an Indonesian woman, will be charged under Law No. 22/1997 on narcotics, which carries a maximum sentence of death.

The police said Jonas entered the country in 1998 and that his stay permit expired last December. -- JP