Organized crime is here

Organized crime is here

President Soeharto on Monday asked the National Police to
address the problem of organized crime. In his speech marking the
force's 50th anniversary, Soeharto said our police should devote
special attention to the issue, looking not only at the growing
number of organized criminal activities, but more particularly at
the sophistication of their planning, organization and execution.
He cited economic development, advances in science and technology
and changes in society and culture as factors that could lead to
the growth of new types of crimes we are not familiar with. His
remarks bring us to the reality that organized crime exists in
this country.

We recall that as recently as last year, most law enforcement
officials and legal experts still dismissed organized crime as a
minor problem in this country. They said that none of the crimes
committed in Indonesia could be traced to any of the big
international syndicates. They acknowledged the presence of local
crime groups, but these did not possess the sophistication
normally associated with the Chinese triads and the Japanese
Yakuzas.

So while the potential threat from organized crime was widely
recognized, as apparent from the widespread debate on the subject
last year, the issue received little priority from our law
enforcement agents, who were more concerned with containing
problems associated with traditional crimes.

What triggered the debate on the problems of organized crime
last year was the 1994 murder of Nyo Beng Seng, a prominent
Jakarta-based figure in the gambling business and owner of
several massage parlors and night clubs in Jakarta. Two men were
convicted for the murder, but police believed that they were
assassins hired by Beng Seng's business rival, who resides in
Singapore. Even then, police believed that this was a case of
rivalry between syndicate leaders and did not reflect the
seriousness of organized crime in the country.

Yet there were others, representing a minority group, who
believed that organized crime had already penetrated deep into
Indonesia, and that syndicates, albeit local ones, were taking
root in our society. These underworld organizations controlled
the lucrative vice trade: drugs, prostitution and gambling. While
they may not have the sophistication of the Chinese triads, they
have been working in collusion with people in powerful places.
These pessimists pointed out that many anti-vice operations
repeatedly failed because they were leaked beforehand, or that
they were dropped at the intervention of powerful people.

They argue that we have underestimated our own underworld
activities and that what we have seen or heard about organized
crime in this country was only the tip of the iceberg.

There is ample evidence to suggest that crime groups have
expanded their tentacles in the country. One needs only to look
at the lucrative Ecstasy trade. The dozens of arrests made by
police at discotheques and at Jakarta, Medan and Bali airports in
the last few months represented the "small fries". The "big fish"
-- the syndicates behind the trade -- are still at large and will
likely remain invisible, given the sophistication of their
operation. Two other vices traditionally run by crime groups --
prostitution and gambling -- are also thriving, although gambling
is outlawed and prostitution is supposedly under strict
government control.

There is another reason to be gloomy. Organized criminal
activity usually breeds in places where corruption and collusion
are rife and the law is weak. This makes Indonesia especially
vulnerable.

It is therefore a big relief to hear President Soeharto's
speech in which he recognized the problem of organized crime.
This means that something at last will be done. But before
discussing what actions to take, it would be wiser if we first
try to recognize the severity of the problem. We need to
determine not only the international links that these crime
syndicates have, but more so the influence that they have built,
including their links with politically powerful people in this
country. Once we know the challenges confronting us, we can
decide on a proper course of action.