Police foil motorcycle smuggling attemp

JAKARTA (JP): Acting on a tip-off from local residents, the North Jakarta police foiled the attempted smuggling of 56 stolen motorcycles at a rented house in Kelapa Gading, North Jakarta, on Sunday.

Three men, including a retired military corporal, were detained in the raid at Jl. Raya Kelapa Sawit.

"The motorcycles were already stored in a container truck ready to be shipped to Singapore," a police officer who asked for anonymity said.

None of the confiscated motorcycles, comprising 50 Astrea Grand, three Yamaha and three Kawasaki, had legal documents, he added.

The bikes are believed to have been stolen from several areas in Cengkareng, West Jakarta, and Tangerang in the past three months.

Police suspect there is a well-connected syndicate behind the attempted smuggling and theft of motorcycles.

"During the raid, we also seized 35 fake vehicle ownership documents, 32 bogus vehicle license number documents and five boxes of automotive spare parts from the suspects," the source said.

He said the raid was conducted based on a report filed about a month ago by residents of Jl. Raya Kelapa Sawit, who said they were suspicious about unusual activities at the rented house.

In their report, the locals said they often saw many motorcycles being unloaded from a truck and later reloaded onto a container truck, the officer said.

"Why did it take so long after the report? We have to investigate the case and, once there is enough evidence, we also have to nab them at the site with the stolen motorcycles," he explained.

In an interview with a privately run television station, suspect Tubagus A. Suhendar, the retired military official, denied the police allegation he was involved in motorcycle thefts.

He admitted he was ordered by a Singaporean, called Mr. Tan, who is now at large, to ship the vehicles to Singapore in exchange for payment of Rp 100 million.

According to Suhendar, he bought the document-less motorcycles, locally called motor bodong, from someone in Cengkareng for about Rp 2 million each.

"It's no secret now in this capital about buying motorcycles without documents.

"Should anyone want to purchase 100 motor bodong from me, I could get them in a single day," he boasted.

Separately, chief of the North Jakarta police precinct Lt. Col. Setiyanto said people with missing motorcycles should bring documentation to the police to determine if their vehicle was among those seized. (emf)