Nigerian shot dead in police drug raid
Nigerian shot dead in police drug raid
JAKARTA (JP): Police shot dead a Nigerian in a drug operation
Friday that saw the arrest of a Myanmar man for his alleged
involvement in the smuggling of about six kilograms of heroin.
The seized heroin, suspected of coming from the so-called
golden triangle area near Myanmar, has an estimated street value
of about US$900,000.
It is the country's largest drug haul this year. The second
largest was the capture of 3.7 kilograms of first-grade heroin
earlier this month.
Police identified the Nigerian as Hamed Umar Rufai, 29. He was
believed to have received the drug.
Police arrested Shwe Maung, 35, of Myanmar as the alleged
courier.
City Police Chief Maj. Gen. Hamami Nata confirmed yesterday
the shooting and Maung's arrest, saying his men shot the Nigerian
in self-defense.
"They were forced to shoot him during the arrest because he
attempted to do something which could have put the lives of the
officers in danger," he said.
Police said information about Hamed's involvement had been
obtained from Maung who was arrested in the early hours of Friday
in a room at the Tanah Abang Indah Hotel on Jl. Kebon Kacang I/1
in Central Jakarta.
Maung's modified suitcase passed through customs' X-ray scans
when he arrived with the six kilograms of heroin Wednesday at the
Soekarno-Hatta International Airport on board a Silk Air flight
from Singapore.
Maung told police during interrogation that he had been
ordered to deliver the heroin to Hamed who was staying at the
same hotel in Jakarta.
Undercover detectives pretending to be hotel employees raided
Hamed's room on the second floor at about 7 p.m. Friday.
Hamed resisted arrest and attempted to attack the officers who
shot him in the right arm, chest and head.
More than 30 Nigerians staying at the same hotel were taken to
City Police Headquarters for questioning.
Most were released at around 2 a.m. yesterday.
As a follow-up to the investigation, the officers raided the
Hanover Hotel, also on Jl. Kebon Kacang, at about 5 a.m.
yesterday and seized 200 grams of heroin from a room on the third
floor.
Police also arrested five foreigners during the raid -- one
each from Nigeria, Great Britain, Bahama Islands, Ghana and
Sierra Leone -- for violating immigration regulations.
Seven Nigerians have been arrested this month for allegedly
possessing or smuggling a total of about 10.2 kilograms of first-
grade heroin, mostly from the golden triangle areas of Thailand
and Myanmar.
Nigerian Consular General to Indonesia Timothy Kasuwa went to
City Police Headquarters yesterday to meet Lt. Col. Abdullah,
head of the police detectives narcotics unit.
Police said Kasuwa had sought information on the shooting of
Hamed and the arrests of the other Nigerians.
Abdullah did not disclose details of their conversation.
He only said that Kasuwa supported the police's action toward
Nigerians involved in drug-related crimes here.
No one in the embassy was willing to comment on the matter.
(04/cst)