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)