Police capture five escapees marijuana remains missing

Police capture five escapees marijuana remains missing

The Jakarta Post, Apriadi Gunawan, Medan

Local police have recaptured five of the 61 former detainees
who escaped from their cells at the Binjai Police lockup late in
September, but the 1.5 tons of marijuana that was taken during
the two-day battle between elements of the Army and police,
remains missing.

Binjai Police precinct chief Adj. Sr. Comr. Bambang Waskito
said here that the five inmates were captured in several places
around North Sumatra during an operation last week.

In a bid to catch the prisoners still at large, Bambang said
the police had put them on a wanted list distributed to police
precincts and stations across the province.

Bambang was speaking after attending a closed-door meeting
between outgoing provincial police chief Insp. Gen. Ansyad Mbai
and his successor Insp. Gen. I Gede Dewa Astika at the North
Sumatra Police headquarters here.

Astika will officially take over from Ansyad on Tuesday.

The violent incident took place when dozens of Army soldiers
from the 100th Airborne Unit attacked the police precinct on
Sept, 29, leaving 12 dead, including civilians. There were
reports that the assault was related to a drug dealer in custody
and the marijuana, which had earlier been seized by police as
evidence.

North Sumatra Police spokesman Adj. Sr. Comr. Amrin Karim said
during the meeting, that Ansyad briefed Astika on the general
security conditions in he province and several outstanding cases,
including the attack in Binjai, illegal logging and palm oil
smuggling.

Amrin said Ansyad admitted during the meeting that there were
many things to be done regarding the investigation of the Binjai
incident.

The spokesman said the police were continuing the search for
the missing marijuana and the remaining inmates.

He stated that the police would find it difficult to recover
the marijuana, which he said could easily be hidden or quickly
distributed.

"Maybe the marijuana has been sold or already consumed by its
buyers. We have not ruled out those possibilities, because so
far, we have been unable to regain it," Amrin said.

Amrin also said that they were still "in the dark" about who
took the drugs with a street value of billions of rupiah.

Army Chief of Staff Gen. Ryamizard Ryacudu has apologized for
the incident and discharged 20 soldiers for their involvement in
the shootout. All of the soldiers in the airborne unit were
reportedly transferred.

Later Ryamizard announced the replacement of Bukit Barisan
Military commander, which oversees North Sumatra, Maj. Gen. Idris
Gassing with Brig. Gen. Tritamtomo, the current Jakarta Military
Garrison chief. The transfer will take place on Wednesday.

The National Police and the Indonesian Military formed a joint
inquiry team in the wake of the armed clash.

A non-governmental organization revealed that the incident
showed how police and soldiers squabble over control of the
lucrative drug trade. It said many illegal businesses here were
able to thrive due to what has generally been attributed to
protection money that criminal gangs pay to police or military
personnel.