Noodle fencers apprehended

JAKARTA (JP): Police have apprehended a warehouse owner for allegedly acting as a fencer for 2,000 boxes of stolen instant noodles seized from a container at a courier company.

Three other suspects of the crime were still at large.

City police detective chief Col. Alex Bambang Riatmodjo identified the arrested suspect as AP, a resident of Jl. Mesjid, Pekojan, North Jakarta.

The three wanted suspects were identified as Acip, Fendi Lubis and Agus Salim Nasution.

"We don't know whether the three are all involved or not, but they left their houses shortly after we arrested AP late Saturday," he said.

AP has denied the charge, saying he was only asked by one of the suspects, Acip, a close neighbor, to take care of the "merchandise".

"I have an empty warehouse and when Acip came and asked to use the warehouse, I let him use it."

According to police, the three other suspects stole the loot -- Mie Sehat Ginseng noodles -- on June 14, from a courier company PT Harapan Gembira in Pademangan, North Jakarta.

The merchandise had a total estimated value of Rp 300 million (US$42,900).

Umi Kalsum, the owner of PT Harapan Gembira, said she could not believe the involvement of her employee, Agus, in the crime.

"I never thought that they would do this to me," she said at city police headquarters.(emf)