Police arrest 15 in 'shabu-shabu' house raid
JAKARTA (JP): Fifteen young people, including three women, were apprehended on Wednesday afternoon for allegedly consuming shabu-shabu, an amphetamine-derivative, in a boarding house in Baturaja subdistrict, Central Jakarta.
Jakarta Police detective chief Col. Alex Bambang Riatmodjo said eight were proven to have consumed the drug, while police were awaiting the results of urine tests for the other seven youths.
The drug bust was launched after police received information from a drug trafficker, identified as Wawan, who was arrested on Jl. Bukit Duri, South Jakarta, on Monday.
"Wawan said that a group of people often held a shabu-shabu party at the above-mentioned house," Alex said.
He said that when the raid in the densely populated subdistrict took place at about 3 p.m., nobody resisted arrest.
"Most of the arrested people were still under the influence of the drug when we broke into the house."
The three arrested women were identified as Heriyanti alias Mami, a resident of Jl. Bangka in Mampang, South Jakarta, Tasnia, 24, a resident of Jatiluhur in Bekasi and Rejeki Novianti, 24, a resident of Kelapa Gading, North Jakarta.
Also identified were Syarifudin, 35, an unemployed resident of Baturaja; Hapsoro Suyitno, 26, also unemployed, of Kelapa Gading in North Jakarta; Agam, 29, a resident of Jl. Kotabumi, Central Jakarta and Edwin alias Chandra, 26, a resident of Jl. Jatiluhur in Bekasi.
"Four of the suspects are students at various universities, including two in Australia," Alex said, referring to Heriyanti and Ricky Hermawan, a resident of Jl. Pegaden in Bandung, West Java.
The two other detained students were Mario Leonit, 27, a third year student at the University of Moestopo and Powel Peranta Romengan, a student at the University of Sahid.
The rest of the group were identified as Jayusman, 31, unemployed of Jl. Wijaya in South Jakarta; Arfani, 28, a resident of Cempaka Putih in Central Jakarta; Budiman, 28, a resident of Kebon Kacang in Central Jakarta; Muh. Ramses Hutasuhut, 32, a resident of Jl. Lidi in East Jakarta and Iran Sofyan, 23, a resident of Jl. Kudus in Menteng, Central Jakarta.
Based on preliminary questioning, police said the boarding house, belonging to Syarifudin, was often used as a place to consume shabu-shabu.
Police also confiscated five grams of shabu-shabu and two devices used to inhale the substances.
"The quantity of the seized drugs was not much as they had been consumed, but the evidence is enough to charge them," Alex said.
Extortion
A joint security team from Tanah Abang district arrested nine people on Wednesday night, four of whom were allegedly extorting money from passersby and five others allegedly involved in gambling activities in the area.
No fatalities were reported during the raids and the nine men were detained at the Tanah Abang Police station in Central Jakarta for questioning.
"We launched the raids after receiving complaints from locals regarding rampant extortion and gambling practices in the district," the head of Tanah Abang district Asri Ilyas told The Jakarta Post on Thursday.
The team which carried out the arrests comprised 28 personnel from the police, the military and local law and order officers.
Team members patrolling the area allegedly saw a man holdup a public minivan and force the driver to give him money. The team acted quickly to apprehend the man, dragging him to their vehicle.
They also arrested three other extortionists attempting to flee the alleged scenes of their crimes.
Asri Ilyas, also the leader of the security team, said the suspects did not resist arrest.
Other team members raided a group of men gambling in front of Surya movie theater on Jl. Jati Baru.
The law enforcement personnel arrested five people, but scores of others fled the scene.
Roulette gambling instruments and hundreds of thousands of rupiah left by the gamblers were seized.
Asri Ilyas acknowledged that several raids had been conducted in the area earlier, but said they had proved to be ineffective.
"The police were forced to release the suspects due to a lack of evidence."
The four alleged extorters were identified as Iman B. Hamin, Fadilah, Agus Sulaeman and Eddy Irawan, while the five gamblers were Sugianto, Tjoen Boen Lian, Darsono, Arifin and Yuri Alparidji. All of them were Tanah Abang district residents.
Tanah Abang Police precinct chief Capt. Suwito was not available for comment.(emfasa)