Police arrest 15 in 'shabu-shabu' house raid

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)