Police nab 13, seize drugs in recent raids
JAKARTA (JP): Police have arrested 13 alleged drug dealers and confiscated 4,600 Ecstasy pills, 10 kilograms of marijuana, and 525 grams of heroin in a series of raids over the past two weeks, an officer said Thursday.
Chief of City Police Detectives Col. Gories Mere said at a press conference that two alleged marijuana dealers, Masnur and Amal, were arrested Wednesday at a house on Jl. Alu-alu Raya, in Rawamangun, East Jakarta.
"Masnur and Amal were arrested prior to a scheduled transaction, in which a kilogram of marijuana is usually sold for around Rp 2.5 million (US$1,111)," Gories said. Eight kilograms of marijuana were confiscated from the two men, he said.
Later that day, a man identified as Andreas, a resident of Tanjung Duren, West Jakarta, was arrested at the S Restaurant on Jl. Mangga Besar, also in West Jakarta.
"As many as 2,600 Ecstasy pills were seized from Andreas," Gories said.
Another 2,000 Ecstasy pills were confiscated late Wednesday night from five men at Genggong Hotel in Cimanggis, south of Jakarta, he said. An Ecstasy pill can be sold for between Rp 30,000 and Rp 40,000.
The five were identified as Lim Robbi, Ranggono, Setiadi, Soleh and Suwandi. "They were in a meeting allegedly preparing a transaction when the police arrested them," Gories said.
The police also arrested five other alleged drug dealers, including three Pakistani men.
One of the six suspects, identified as Syafrizal, was arrested on Tuesday for illegally possessing 25 grams of heroin, worth between Rp 250,000 and Rp 300,000 a gram, and a .25 caliber FN handgun.
"Fifty bullets were also seized from the man, who was arrested at a soccer field in Kebon Jeruk, West Jakarta," Gories said. There was no explanation on where Syafrizal got the gun.
The other alleged drug dealer, known as Indra Kesuma Neli alias Bi Ong, was arrested last week with two kilograms of marijuana at a house on Jl. Bungur Besar, Kemayoran, Central Jakarta, he said.
The Pakistani men, identified as CMS, CMR and LA were arrested for illegally possessing 500 grams of heroin at Wisma Bintang, in Tanah Tinggi, Central Jakarta.
Robberies
Gories further said that police detectives had also arrested earlier this week an alleged mastermind of some robbery cases.
"The suspect, Edy Cai Nam Sui, was actually wanted by Hong Kong police for robbing a diamond store in that country. A team of detectives had arrested Eddy in Pontianak," Gories said.
Police were forced to shoot Edy in the right leg when he resisted arrest, he added.
One of the prominent robberies allegedly committed by Edy and four accomplices involved the Sarida watch shop in the Ratu Plaza shopping center, South Jakarta, in April 1995.
"Edy and four other people, Marsono, A Sun, Amin, and Sungkono, had cheated the shop owner and employees and stole some expensive watches worth Rp 2 billion," Gories said.
Also revealed during the press conference was the arrest of two men for counterfeiting vehicle registration licenses, building permits, tax documents, high school certificates and company and business licenses. (cst)