Thu, 06 Sep 2001

Police detain 3 drivers for extorting of migrants

TANGERANG (JP): Tangerang Police detained on Tuesday evening three private minivan drivers for extorting money from eight Indonesian female migrant workers (TKW) employed in Saudi Arabia, who were on their way back to their hometowns in Central Java.

Police chief of detectives Insp. Chandra Sukma Kumara said that after the extortion attempt, the drivers left their victims stranded near the Kampung Rambutan bus terminal, unable to continue their journey.

The three drivers were identified as Atip, 22, Dani, 31 and Iskandar, 31, residents of Kampung Rambutan, East Jakarta, who worked for PT Ranam, one of 11 transportation companies entrusted by the Ministry of Manpower to transport homecoming Indonesian migrant workers to their hometowns.

According to the workers, some 45 minutes after the minivan left the airport, the three drivers, who were to drive them to Pati, Central Java, dropped them at a house belonging to Yanto on Jl. Tanah Merdeka, behind Kampung Rambutan bus terminal.

"When we arrived at the house, three men waiting there ordered all of us to hand over our cheque books, dollars and (Saudi Arabian) reals. They said if we refused, they could not guarantee our safety on the way to our villages," Solekah, 24, one of the workers who has spent 2 years in Saudi, told The Jakarta Post.

Solekah, who was on her way to visit her family in Tegal Aren, Ranggen, Central Java, said she then handed over US$1,785 and 140 real to one of the men, and was given Rp 12,800,000 (US$1,505) in exchange.

Another worker, Yanti, 30, a resident of Sragen, who has also been working for 2 years in Saudi Arabia, said she gave US$800 and received Rp 5,700,000 (US$671) from the man.

Iaini, 21 also told the Post that she handed over US$1,917 to the man and received Rp 13 million (US$1,529) in return.

Only three of the workers claimed to have been the victims of extortion.

One of the drivers, Atip, said that before picking up the workers, he had been ordered by the minivan owner, a man called Syahrul, to bring the workers to Yanto's house on Jl. Tanah Merdeka.

"We don't know anything about the extortion inside the house because when the workers entered the house, we just waited outside. But after leaving the house, the police suddenly stopped us," he said, adding that he had frequently dropped workers at the house before they were taken to their villages in Central and East Java.

Chandra added that the police were conducting operations against private minivans transporting workers from the airport to their hometowns in Java based on a request from the airport police concerning alleged extortion and forced currency exchanges victimizing Indonesian migrant workers.

He said the police failed to catch the main suspects in the crime as they had escaped by the time the police arrived at the house.

Earlier in the day, Soekarno-Hatta International Airport police chief Insp. Suari Wahyudi disclosed that she had also arrested on Aug. 30 two drivers working for PT Koperjati, a similar company to PT Ranam, following a complaint from a migrant worker named Sinah, a resident of Ngawi, East Java.

The drivers were Sudirman, 44 and Yayat, 29, who are also residents of Kampung Rambutan.

Sinah claimed that her passport was taken by the drivers after she refused to exchange her dollars with a man called Joko at the Kartika restaurant in Subang, West Java, on Aug. 23.

Suari said that the forced exchange of foreign currency involving Indonesian migrant workers had long been taking place. But the police had yet to arrest the people involved in the crime.

Suari said that the police had no strong legal grounds for making arrests as the crime involved a tight-knit network in which the suspects managed to escape before the police could identify them. (41)