Police nab int'l drug smuggler, seize Rp 2.5 billion drug cache

Damar Harsanto, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Police have arrested a member of an international drug syndicate and seized from him 12,000 ecstasy pills and two kilograms of shabu-shabu, or crystal methamphetamine, worth Rp 2.5 billion (US$295,857).

The suspect, Tony Taslim, 28, alias Washington, alias Ahua, was apprehended on Tuesday at his rented store, where he sells louhan fish, at Kota Wisata housing complex in Gunung Putri, Bogor.

"The suspect has been wanted not only by Indonesian Police, but also by the Australian Federal Police, Hong Kong Police and Police of the Republic of China," Comr. Gen. Togar Sianipar, head of the National Narcotics Agency (BNN), told the media on Friday at the BNN office in Central Jakarta.

It was the eighth major narcotics arrest this year.

If convicted, Tony could face the death penalty under Law No. 22/1997 on narcotics.

The drugs, which were smuggled from Hong Kong, are considered to be of high quality. Each pill is sold at Rp 120,000, while a gram of shabu-shabu is sold at Rp 550,000.

Togar said the arrest was made possible thanks to information forwarded by the Australian Federal Police following the arrest of Tony's mother Elizabeth Eng and stepfather Herman Tanuwijaya.

Elizabeth and Herman were arrested by Hong Kong Police on Oct. 4, along with four Chinese and four Hong Kong nationals. Hong Kong Police seized more than 10 kilograms of shabu-shabu from the suspects.

Based on the information, police put Tony's residence and fish shop, Dinasty Louhan, under surveillance.

A plainclothes police detective disguised as a prospective customer of Dinasty Louhan was also stationed at the housing complex.

Team leader of the National Police narcotics division Sr. Comr. Yotje Mende, who was in charge of the arrest, said that Tony had been convicted for trading 400 grams of shabu-shabu in 2000 and sent to prison to two years and eight months.

"I don't know why he was released. We are still checking with the West Jakarta Police, which handled his previous case," he said.

Yotje said Tony had repeatedly smuggled drugs into the country using his louhan fish business as a front, which enabled him to travel to Hong Kong, China and Australia.

"He arrived from Hong Kong on Oct. 10," said Yotje. "However, we have yet to uncover how he smuggled the drugs under our noses, as he has been uncooperative in his interrogation."

In other narcotics cases, on Thursday night, police shot dead small-scale drug dealer Jani Andar Sirait, 38, in North Gandaria, Kebayoran Baru, South Jakarta.

Jani was shot dead while trying to escape, after he realized that a buyer was actually a plainclothes officer. He was shot in his back and his chest.

Police seized 6.1 grams of putauw, or low grade heroin, a scale and Rp 100,000 in cash.

Earlier on Wednesday, the South Jakarta District Court handed down a 15-year sentence to TV actor Ibrahim Salahuddin, 33. Ibrahim, better known as Ibra Azhari, was convicted of violating Law No. 22/1997 on narcotics and Law No. 5/1997 on psychotropics for illegal possession of 8.5 grams of cocaine, 16.7 grams of shabu-shabu and 230 ecstasy pills.