Police apprehend three notorious truck robbers

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)