Motorcycle theft gang nabbed

Motorcycle theft gang nabbed

TANGERANG (JP): Four members of a motorcycle theft ring were
arrested following a tip from another gang member who was in
police custody.

Tangerang police detectives chief Chandra Sukma Kumara said
the two were arrested at a house in the Sentul subdistrict of
Balaraja on Sunday, based on information from Samsul, who had
been detained a day earlier.

Samsul was handed over to the police by residents in Legok
district after being mobbed for stealing a motor cycle late on
Saturday.

Samsul said he and his two accomplices, Ari and Mansur, who
are still at large, had stolen seven motorcycles since July 2000
and sold them to Edi Tamin at a price of between Rp 1.5 million
and Rp 2 million each.

Based on Samsul's tip, police then searched a house in Sentul
subdistrict and arrested Edi Tamin, 37, and three others
allegedly involved in the motorcycle theft ring. Juanda and Didi,
who were in the house to buy a motorcycle, were also arrested.

Edi, who was shot in the knee as he tried to escape, admitted
that he had bought 18 stolen motorcycles in the last three
months.

"I sold the stolen motorcycles for between Rp 2.3 million and
Rp 2.5 million to ojek (motorcycle taxi) drivers," he told The
Jakarta Post.

Juanda and Didi said they were interested in buying the stolen
vehicles from Edi because of the low prices.

"I simply want to be an ojek driver because I am unemployed,"
Juanda told the Post.(41)