Police apprehend three notorious truck robbers

BOGOR (JP): Police arrested three members of a gang of notorious truck robbers who operate along the roads connecting Jakarta to cities in West Java and Central Java, an officer said here on Monday.

The chief of the Bogor Police, Lt. Col. Ade Husen Kartadipura, said that the eight-member gang was at the top of the local police's list of most-wanted criminals. The gang was believed to have robbed a number of trucks carrying, among other things, goats, plastic bags, coconuts and rice, since June last year.

The three suspects who were arrested were identified as Dani, 25, Tomson Marpaung, 40, and Robert, 35. The trio was apprehended in Bekasi last Tuesday.

"Dani was shot in the leg when he resisted arrest," Husen said.

Husen gave no information on the whereabouts of the other five members of the gang.

According to local police, the gang usually robbed trucks along roads in the Cileungsi, Jonggol and Cariu areas of Bogor, on the southern outskirts of Jakarta. These roads are often deserted in the early morning hours.

"These notorious culprits usually carried out their crimes between 2 a.m. and 3 a.m. using a Kijang van," Husen said.

The robbers followed the slow-moving trucks in their vehicle before overtaking and blocking the overloaded trucks, he stated.

"After incapacitating the trucks' drivers and crews, they drove off with the trucks," Husen said.

During preliminary questioning, the three suspects admitted to taking part in at least five truck robberies in the Bogor area since June last year.

The first was the robbery of a truck carrying 400 coconuts in Cariu on June 8 last year. This was followed by the robberies of a truck carrying plastic bags in Jonggol last December, a truck loaded with nine tons of rice in Cileungsi on Feb. 1 this year and a truck carrying six tons of rice in Cileungsi four days later.

Goats

According to the suspects, their last robbery was of a truck carrying 62 goats in Cariu on Feb. 11.

"The three suspects also admitted to having committed similar crimes in other areas, including in Bandung, Subang, Indramayu and Tangerang (all in the western part of Jakarta)," Husen said.

The criminals mostly focused on trucks carrying rice or plastic bags, he added.

Based on tip-offs from the three suspects, police were able to arrest five men the suspects said had regularly purchased the stolen goods and trucks.

"The brokers, four of whom were the buyers of the stolen trucks, were arrested in their respective hometowns of Solo, Klaten and Pati," Husen added.

"They purchased the trucks for between Rp 5 million and Rp 7 million each," he said.

As of Monday, Bogor Police had seized four trucks, two tons of rice, a Kijang minivan, and five kilograms of plastic bags from the suspects as evidence.

The escalating number of truck robberies which have taken place in the past few months on the main roads connecting the capital with other parts of Java have caused fear among food suppliers and truck drivers who transport commodities to Jakarta.

As a result, the prices of several commodities, in particular rice and meat, have jumped drastically.

However, in the past few weeks the number of robberies has dropped significantly following the police's shoot-on-sight order. (24/bsr)