Police arrest two men for stealing fuel

JAKARTA (JP): A team of police detectives arrested two men for stealing diesel fuel from a fuel truck on Jl. Raya Hankam, Pondok Gede district of East Jakarta early on Wednesday.

One of the thieves was identified as MA, 31, a driver of NAG fuel truck, and the other is 44-year old VS, who would buy the stolen diesel fuel, the police said.

According to East Jakarta Police detective deputy chief Adj. Comr. Ferdy Sambo, the police were informed that fuel truck drivers frequently stole fuel from their trucks and sold it to buyers in the early morning hours.

Based on the tip, a team of police detectives was sent to observe the location. At 4 a.m. the police saw a parked fuel truck containing 16,000 liters of diesel fuel and the driver pouring fuel from its tank into four oil drums.

"After waiting for two hours, police immediately apprehended the driver and the buyer, with four oil drums of stolen fuel as evidence," Ferdy said.

He said the truck driver was to transport 8,000 liters of diesel fuel for PT Trimix Beton on Jl. MT. Haryono and another 8,000 liters for PT AIK on Jl. Bekasi Timur, both in East Jakarta.

The driver confessed that he had sold four drums of the fuel for Rp 750,000. Each drum had a capacity of 215 liters.

Ferdy said police had yet to find any indication that the theft was organized by a certain group, adding that it was the first fuel theft police had managed to apprehend.

Earlier reports said that the city was hit by a diesel fuel shortage over the past three days. Pertamina state-owned oil company alleged that the shortage was caused by huge sales to foreign ships which buy the fuel at a Rp 1,990 per liter, or triple the normal price. (01)