Police arrest drug dealers, seize 12kg of marijuana
Police arrest drug dealers, seize 12kg of marijuana
JAKARTA (JP): City Police have arrested four people for drug
trafficking and confiscated 12 kilograms of marijuana worth about
Rp 30 million (US$15,000) in an anti-narcotics raid.
Maj. Indawan of the Narcotics Unit said yesterday that the
first two suspects, identified as Arudji, 31, and Slamet Riyadi,
30, were apprehended in an evening raid on Oct. 19.
Arudji, who had been under surveillance for weeks, was
arrested carrying a shopping bag containing one kilogram of
marijuana near his house in Tanjung Priok, North Jakarta.
Based on information from Arudji, the detectives then picked
up Slamet from his house on Jl. Kebon Bawang four hours later. He
was found processing 11 kilograms of dried ganja.
Police did not identify the other two suspects, saying that
the interrogation is still underway.
"We hope that we can get more valuable information from these
two people about the drug conspiracy," said city police spokesman
Lt. Col. Iman Haryatna.
According to preliminary investigation, the syndicate obtained
their supply from people in Aceh at the northern tip of Sumatra,
said Indawan, a senior detective at the narcotics unit.
After packing it like normal parcels to avoid police
attention, the illegal merchandise was then delivered to Jakarta
via public transport, the officer added.
According to Indawan, the syndicate has operated for a long
time with dozens of members in Java and Sumatra selling the dried
marijuana in both small and big quantities with an average price
of Rp 2,200,000 per kilogram.
"Users can place orders just by sending messages through hand
phones and beepers of the syndicate's members," he said.
During police questioning, the four suspects said that they
only sold the contraband in the Greater Jakarta area, including
Bekasi, Depok and Tangerang.
Indawan gave no explanation on whether the syndicate also sold
other types of illegal drugs.
During a police midday raid at a hotel in South Jakarta late
last week, one of two suspected traffickers of Ecstasy, a mind-
altering drug popular among teenagers, died immediately after
swallowing a number of the pills when he tried to destroy
evidence.
According to the police spokesman, the city police narcotics
unit has located a number of targets as part of their campaign to
stop the massive activities of drug syndicates in the capital.
(bsr)