Police arrest 5 suspected underwater cable thieves

JAKARTA (JP): Water police have arrested five suspects for stealing some 3,000-meter-long sea cables, about 1.5 tons in weight, from an offshore oil platform located near Pabelokan Island, some 40 miles north of Jakarta, an officer said on Friday.

Water police chief Supt. Ramses Kamsuddin said the five were caught on Sunday as they were pulling up the cables, which were planted deep in the Java Sea.

"After receiving a tip-off from the public, police personnel checked out the scene and found the five suspects pulling the cables on board the Arjuna motorboat.

"The suspects were eventually arrested at a harbor on Harapan Island of Seribu Islands marine resort, off North Jakarta bay after trying to escape from the police," Ramses told reporters at his office.

The five were identified as Nurjali, 26, Sailan, 28, Sumarta, 20, Tamher, 17 and Sahroni, 34, all of whom are residents of nearby islands within the Seribu Islands area.

Ramses said evidence seized from the suspects included the motorboat, two compressors, diving equipment, a saw, three large plastic drums and the cables.

The large cables, belonging to Argentine-based oil exploration firm YPF-Maxus, are designed to conduct electricity currents to some offshore oil platforms owned by the company, Ramses said.

"The company is still calculating the losses," he said.

Nurjali, one of the suspects, said the group had repeatedly stolen cables over the past two months in separate locations.

"However, I forget the length of the cables stolen," he said.

He said the group pulled up the cables, planted some 30 centimeters below the sea-bed, to the surface.

"A diver tied one end of the cable with a rope and then attached a large plastic drum.

"The diver, equipped with a compressor and diving equipment, then filled up the drum with air from the compressor," he said.

He said the power generated from the compressor then propelled the drum upwards toward the surface, pulling the cable along with it.

"Some people waited for the cables up on the Arjuna motorboat, ready to pull them in.

"Meanwhile, another diver looked for the other end of the cable and cut it with a saw," he said.

Tamher, another member of the group, said the group sold the copper wire, which had been separated from its rubber covering by burning it off, to a buyer at nearby Kelapa Island.

"The copper wire was cut in pieces of 2-meters-long each and was then ready to be sold to the buyers," he said, adding that he was forced to steal the cables since he was a jobless.

Ramses said the burglary was dangerous as the group might pick active cables.

"The cables supply many megawatts of electricity to the oil platforms, which is dangerous to humans and the surrounding environment.

"However, the group succeeded in picking the non-active cables, since they got information from a former employee of the company, named Chaidir," he said, adding that Chaidir was a former diving supervisor at the company.

"We're looking for Chaidir, who acted also as the buyer of the copper."

Ramses said the group's action was purely burglary.

"It had no relation to sabotage. The burglars stole the cables for the copper, which will be sold for Rp 8 million (US$940) a ton," he said.

He said the group would be charged with violating Article 362 of the Criminal Code for stealing the cables.

The Article carries a maximum sentence of five years in jail. (asa)