Police seek Singaporean mastermind
Police seek Singaporean mastermind
Haidir Anwar Tanjung, The Jakarta Post, Pekanbaru, Riau
Riau Police said on Wednesday that they are searching for a
Singaporean and his Indonesian accomplice suspected of
trafficking women to work as prostitutes in Malaysia.
Riau Police arrested five members of two gangs in Tanjung
Pinang, Riau Islands province, over the weekend, including three
Malaysians and two Indonesians, after a month-long surveillance
operation.
Riau Police chief Brig. Gen. Deddy Sutardi Komaruddin said
they believed the Singaporean, identified only as James, was the
brains of the operation. His Indonesian accomplice was identified
as Aan.
The five arrested suspects, including Malaysians Chai Shong
Hin, 31, Tang Meng Yeew, 22, and Chay Fook Chong, 30, were being
detained at Riau Police headquarters for further questioning,
Deddy said.
"We also have 10 victims who were to be sent to Malaysia and
we are holding them as witnesses in the two separate trafficking
cases," he said.
The victims were named as Maryati, 18, from Kerawang, West
Java, Fitri, 23, and Dita, 24, from Jember, East Java, Mira, 29,
from Semarang, Central Java, and Mariani, 23, from Jakarta.
"We also received information from National Police
Headquarters that seven more victims in the trafficking cases
have been secured by the Indonesian Embassy in Kuala Lumpur,"
Deddy said.
Tanjung Pinang Police chief Adj. Sr. Comr. Widodo Eko
Prihastopo had said Chai Shong and Tang Meng were arrested on
Saturday at Paradise Hotel along with two local women who were to
be trafficked for 3,500 ringgit each to serve as prostitutes in
Malaysia.
The Malaysian suspects claimed that it was their first time
operating in Tanjung Pinang, Eko said on Monday. However, the
hotel management said the two Malaysian citizens were frequent
customers.
Their passports also showed they had visited Tanjung Pinang
several times, Eko added.
The two women told police that they were to be employed as
prostitutes at a karaoke center in Kuala Lumpur.
Eko said Chay Fook, the third Malaysian suspect, was caught at
the Sri Bintan Pura seaport on Sunday. Chay worked along with
local citizens Zoni, 30, and Septiani Dwi Riyanti, alias Ria, 29,
who had both been arrested earlier last week.
Deddy said police would charge all the suspects under Article
297, 378 and 506 of the Criminal Code on human trafficking, which
carries a minimum penalty of six years in prison.
He said Riau Police had cooperated with their Malaysian
counterparts and Interpol to fight practices of human trafficking
in the region.
The Malaysian consul for Riau, Abdul Samad Othman, visited the
Malaysian detainees on Wednesday.
He said the Malaysian government was ready to provide lawyers
for the suspects if their families, now in Tanjung Pinang, could
not afford to do so.