Police arrest Singaporean

JAKARTA (JP): Police have arrested a Singaporean man for allegedly possessing more than 2,000 Ecstasy pills at a hotel in West Jakarta.

City Police Spokesman Lt. Col. E. Aritonang said, yesterday, that Lo Gin Ang, 38, was arrested on Wednesday afternoon in the lobby of the Dusit Hotel, Mangga Dua, West Jakarta.

"Lo was believed to have planned a transaction at the hotel with another party, who is still unknown. The transaction never took place before the officers picked him up from the hotel," Aritonang said.

Police also confiscated documents bearing the names of several people assumed to be accomplices in the planned transaction, he said.

"A cellular phone was also seized from Lo. The evidence would be very important for officers in tracing other parties involved in the illicit business," he said.

Aritonang said police were still examining the 2,450 Ecstasy pills of various types confiscated from Lo. In Jakarta, an Ecstasy pill costs around Rp 30,000 (US$12.50) each.

Lo said he wanted to speak up after he got a lawyer to represent him, Aritonang said. (cst)