Nepalese drug suspect shot dead
Nepalese drug suspect shot dead
Abdul Khalik and Wahyoe Boediwardhana, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta/Denpasar,
Bali
A suspected Nepalese drug trafficker, identified as Man Sing
Gale, 40, was shot dead on Wednesday as he allegedly resisted
arrest by agents of the National Narcotic Agency (BNN) and Bekasi
police at his rented house in Taman Asri, Teluk Buceng, Bekasi
Utara, West Java.
City police spokesman Sr. Comr. Tjiptono also said Thursday
that the joint operation managed to arrest another Nepalese and
two Indonesians, believed to be Gale's accomplices, as well as
confiscating 1.25 kilograms of heroin, 276 grams of cocaine, 500
ecstasy pills and a firearm.
"BNN is now handling the case. However, we will fully assist
them in locating other suspects as the crime scene is under our
jurisdiction," Tjiptono told The Jakarta Post.
He added that Gale died on the way to hospital after being
shot in the chest.
BNN chief Comr. Gen. Sutanto said in Denpasar, Bali, that Gale
was an international drug trafficker who supplied heroin to the
nine Australians arrested in Bali on April 17. Police confiscated
8.2 kilograms of heroin in that arrest.
"The suspect is also on the top (of most-wanted) lists of the
United States Drugs Enforcement Administration and Thai police,
as he has long been identified as a supplier from the golden
triangle to these countries," he said.
Sutanto said Gale was a member of an international drug
syndicate identified as the Bulan Sabit (Crescent Moon) group,
which operates in the golden triangle and Asia, and supplies
drugs to countries all over the world.
He revealed that Gale managed to escape arrest in 2000,
leaving three of his friends to be apprehended by police in
Tangerang, Banten. The three were subsequently sentenced to death
by the Tangerang District Court.
Last week, police received a tip that Gale was back in
business, and controlling his operations from Bekasi, West Java,
Sutanto said.
"We coordinated with Bekasi police to track him down and at
last managed to find his hiding place," he said.
The number of drug cases has continued to rise, especially in
certain areas of the capital.
On Wednesday, BNN and the customs office at Soekarno-Hatta
International Airport managed to arrest a suspect identified as
Marcus Aijal alias Max, and confiscated 34,801 ecstasy pills.
Earlier, Jakarta police arrested 761 people, including five
foreigners and several armed forces (TNI) and police personnel,
and confiscated hundreds of kilograms of drugs in raids conducted
in dozens of places across the capital over the past month.
Among the people arrested, 347 people were dealers while 404
others were drug users.
Police confiscated over 368 kilograms of marijuana, 275 grams
of heroin, 857 grams of crystal methampetamine (shabu shabu), and
over 1,700 ecstasy pills during the one-month long drive.