Police nab five for drug possession

Evi Mariani, The Jakarta Post/Jakarta

Police arrested two Malaysians and three Indonesians for drug possession on Wednesday evening and Thursday morning respectively.

The two Malaysians -- identified as Lee Soon Wei alias Nelson Lee, 36, and Ong Siew Mei, 37 -- were detained by the Jakarta Police for possession of 4.1 grams of shabu-shabu (crystal methamphetamine) at Apartment Puri Casablanca in Manggarai, South Jakarta.

The police raided Ong's apartment on the 21st floor on Wednesday night when a party was in full swing. The raid was made on the basis of a tipoff from neighbors, who had complained about frequent parties in the apartment. Shabu-shabu and two inhalers were confiscated from the suspects.

"We have sent a letter to the Malaysian Embassy, advising that we have detained two of their citizens," newly installed city police spokesman Sr. Comr. Tjiptono announced on Thursday.

Lee, who claims he lives on Jl. KH Mas Mansyur, Central Jakarta, told the police that he was a consultant at a private company, while Ong said he was an accountant at a different company.

They are both being detained at the Jakarta Police lockup.

Separately, on Thursday at around 2 a.m., two police officers patrolling in Slipi, Central Jakarta, arrested three men -- Mahlia, Hardi and Heriyanto -- for transporting 40 kilograms of marijuana.

Chief Brig. Tanta and Second Brig. Frans Pasaribu initially stopped their box truck on the toll road near the Slipi interchange because it was speeding and its ignition lights were off.

The officers stopped the truck and asked to see the driver's license and vehicle ownership documents. They became suspicious when one of the passengers, later identified as Nazaruddin, ran from the truck when he saw the police.

The policemen searched the truck and found 40 plastic bags of marijuana, with each bag containing a kilogram of the drug.

The officers seized the marijuana and took the three suspects to West Jakarta Police station.