Police looking into drug syndicate

JAKARTA (JP): City Police detectives are looking for three Nigerians believed to be members of a well-organized Jakarta- Bangkok-Hong Kong heroin trafficking syndicate, an official announced Monday.

The three were placed on the police's most wanted list following the arrest of four alleged local dealers in raids over the weekend, Tambora Police subprecinct chief Maj. Chairul Anwar said.

"According to the arrested suspects, the three Nigerians staying in a hotel in Central Jakarta have run their illegal business in this country for about six months," the officer said.

The police, he said, strongly believed that the Nigerians had become major heroin suppliers in several big cities in the country.

According to Chairul, the three might have smuggled heroin into the country through the Soekarno-Hatta International Airport by swallowing the drugs, carefully packed in receptacles such as condoms.

The officer refused to further discuss the operation of the three Nigerians, but said the information from the four alleged dealers was more than enough.

The four suspected dealers were arrested in two separate raids by Tambora Police on Saturday and Sunday, Chairul said. Two of them are women.

Police confiscated from them Rp 7 million, 800 grams of putaw (low-grade heroin) with a street value of about Rp 300 million and several grams of heroin kept in a Malboro cigarette box.

They have been identified as widow Tina of Jl. Keselamatan in West Jakarta, married couple Mark and Agnes of Petojo and Apeng of Pekojan, all in West Jakarta.

The city has witnessed the arrests and trials of dozens of Nigerians for alleged involvement in drug trafficking here over the past two years.

The number of Nigerians in the capital has also increased, particularly in Tanah Abang, Central Jakarta.

Staying in cheap hotels, such as those in the Petamburan area, most Nigerians claim they visit Indonesia to purchase tons of textiles for export to their country. (emf)