Police Confirm Officers from Grogol Petamburan Sub-precinct Involved in Civilian Car Raid on Daan Mogot
Jakarta (ANTARA) - Police have confirmed that the six individuals who raided a civilian vehicle on Jalan Daan Mogot in West Jakarta on Saturday (18/4) were officers from the Grogol Petamburan sub-precinct.
The head of Grogol Petamburan sub-precinct, AKP Reza Aditya, explained that the officers were conducting an operation related to suspected drug trafficking based on reports from the public.
“So, the incident yesterday was indeed involving our personnel,” he said when contacted in Jakarta on Monday.
According to Reza, the report mentioned suspicious activities inside the vehicle suspected to be related to drug transactions. Based on this information, the officers proceeded with a search.
“Our personnel received a report from a member of the public who did not wish to be identified, suspecting a drug transaction or violation of regulations, particularly due to that report. That’s why we conducted the search of the vehicle,” said Reza.
However, when about to search the vehicle, Reza stated that one of the vehicle’s occupants was uncooperative and instead recorded and disseminated the video of the search operation.
“But what happened was that the person who uploaded the video was uncooperative. Instead, they went viral with the video,” he said.
Reza said the vehicle was subsequently released after the officers discovered there was an underage passenger inside.
He added that they are still tracing the identity of the video recorder for mediation purposes.
“There was also a minor in the vehicle, so that’s why we released it. To this day, we are still searching for the identity of the person who viralised the video to mediate,” he explained.
In the viral video, six plain-clothed officers can be seen stopping a vehicle on Jalan Daan Mogot in West Jakarta during the daytime. The driver then pulled over and opened the door as requested by the officers.
One officer entered the vehicle and asked about the origin of the trip. The officer introduced himself as a member of the Metro Jakarta Barat Police Resort while showing an identification badge worn around his neck.
The officers then asked the driver not to worry and directed the driver to pull the vehicle towards a nearby housing area from the raid location. The driver complied after the officers promised to explain the purpose of the raid.
However, in the video, the officers and the driver ended up arguing. In addition to exchanging words, one of the officers tapped the phone of the video maker to turn off the camera feature.