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)