Police make biggest drug bust ever
Police make biggest drug bust ever
JAKARTA (JP): Police have arrested a Malaysian, a Thai and an Indonesian in the largest drug bust ever made in this country, seizing 29 kilograms of high-grade heroin with an estimated street-value of Rp 58 billion ($26.97 million).
The three were arrested at Hotel Indonesia on Jl. MH Thamrin in Central Jakarta at 7 p.m. on Wednesday.
Speaking to reporter, the chief of the National Police Crime Investigation Unit, Brig. Gen. Rusdihardjo, said the suspects, believed to be part of an international drug syndicate, could face the death sentence or life imprisonment if convicted.
He identified the suspects as Tham Tuck Yin, alias A Tjai, 29, a Malaysian national, Sae Lim Iaw, alias Boon Tan, 50, a Thai national, and Freddy, alias A Ting, 44, a resident of Bekasi, a fast growing suburb east of Jakarta.
The suspected buyer, identified by the police as Tp, escaped during the raid and is still at large.
"The total value of the heroin is the largest ever in the history of heroin seizure in this country," Rusdihardjo said.
The previous largest haul seven years ago when police seized 17.7 kilograms of heroin being smuggled by a Thai seaman, Kamjai Kong Thavorm, in Samarinda, East Kalimantan. Kamjai was sentenced to death and the drug was burned.
Rusdihardjo said the 29 kilograms consisted of 60 small bags each containing 480 grams of heroin.
During the raid in Hotel Indonesia's lobby on Wednesday, the police found six bags in the possession of the Malaysian, A Tjai, and A Ting. Based on information from the suspects, the police later found another 54 bags at A Ting's house on Jl. Patriot in the Jaka Sampurna housing complex in West Bekasi.
The Thai national, Boon Tan, was arrested in a room at the hotel where he was allegedly waiting for a buyer.
Other party
National Police Force Deputy Chief for Operational Affairs, Maj. Gen. Koesparmono Irsan said investigators believed that none of the heroin smuggled into the country by the syndicate had been passed on to other hands before the raid.
Koesparmono said the arrest of the syndicate members had been assisted by the United States Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) office.
Rusdihardjo said the Indonesian police had been informed about the movements of this syndicate since January.
The confiscated heroin, which is between 95 and 97 percent pure, is believed to have been smuggled into Indonesia by boat through Belawan, North Sumatra, from Phuket, a tourist resort in Thailand, by A Tjai in January.
According to police reports, after spending about one-and-a- half days at sea, A Tjai arrived in Belawan and took an ojek (motorcyclist providing rides for a fare) to the bus terminal in Medan before he left for Jakarta.
"Each of the bags containing the heroin was coated with paraffin so the drug could not be damaged by water or detected by police dogs," Rusdihardjo said.
Upon arrival in Jakarta, the heroin was stored at A Ting's house in West Bekasi.
Overproduction
Rusdihardjo quoted the two foreign suspects as saying that the huge amount of the heroin seized on Wednesday was due to overproduction of the drug in Thailand. "For the time being, the country is able to produce around 5,000 tons of heroin per annum, compared to the normal annual production capacity of between 800 and 1,200 tons."
"Due to the current overproduction, the producers are willing to send the heroin to other countries, including Indonesia, without any down payment, if necessary," he said.
He quoted A Tjai as saying that the heroin they had in their possession had not yet been paid for.
During police questioning, the two foreigners admitted that they had come to Indonesia several times to observe the local market potential for heroin.
Boon Tan, who reportedly acted as the supervisor for the syndicate, has visited Indonesia six times, twice via the Polonia airport in Medan, North Sumatra, and four times via the Soekarno- Hatta international airport in the capital.
Rusdihardjo explained that the syndicate's route link Phuket, Belawan, Medan and Jakarta. "Usually, traffickers use the Pekanbaru-Jakarta route."
The Malaysian, A Tjai, who acted as courier, has come here three times, including twice through the Soekarno-Hatta airport and once illegally through the Polonia airport.
A day before the raid, the two arrived in Jakarta from Thailand via Singapore on SilkAir airlines.
When asked for confirmation about the suspect's nationality, Norman, a consular affairs staff member at the Malaysian embassy here, said that he had not yet been informed about the arrest by the Indonesian authorities.
Thai embassy staff here could not be reached for comment. (bsr)