Man shot, woman arrested in drug haul

JAKARTA (JP): Police have shot a drug trafficker, who later died on the way to the hospital, and detained his pregnant wife after finding 5 kilograms of shabu-shabu (Crystal Methamphetamine) and 15,000 Ecstasy pills worth Rp 7 billion (US$730,000) in their apartment, an officer said on Monday.

Chief of the city police drug squad Ajd. Sr. Comr. Mangatas Tambunan said James Hermanto alias Ahok, 34, and his 23-year-old wife Marju Sari, were arrested on Thursday. James was shot as he tried to escape.

He said an undercover police officer met the couple at a restaurant on Jl. Gunung Sahari, Central Jakarta, pretending to be a buyer. He was offered a plastic package contained 25 grams of shabu-shabu.

Police officers who had surrounded the restaurant arrested the couple at 8:30 p.m. after receiving a sign from the undercover officer.

But, according to the police, they were forced to shoot Ahok in the back after having fired two warning shots when the suspect tried to flee the scene, he said.

Ahok died on the way to the Cipto Mangunkusmo General hospital.

Police then searched the couple's apartment in West Jakarta and found 5 kilograms of shabu-shabu and the Ecstasy pills.

Mangatas said the suspects had violated Article 60 of the 1997 Law on Psychotropic Substances, which carries a maximum punishment of 15 years in jail and a fine of Rp 200 million.

Meanwhile, Sari's lawyer Ahmad Dohak denied that his client, who is nine-months pregnant, was involved in the drug dealing conducted by her husband.

"She knew nothing about it. She was just accompanying her husband at the time," said Dohak, who escorted the young woman during police questioning on Monday.

A police source said the operation was undertaken after police had received information from a drug seller arrested last week

Police arrested three men in separate places in West Jakarta and North Jakarta last week in possession of more than 2 kilograms of shabu-shabu.

Two of the suspects, identified as Aripin, 26, and Zainudin, 25, were apprehended on Jl. Teluk Gong, North Jakarta, in possession of 2 kilograms of the drug while the other, identified as Parnauli Siahaan, was apprehended on Jl. Anggur, Tanjung Utara, West Jakarta with 50 grams of shabu-shabu. (jun)