Police seize 4.6 kg of drugs from two HK citizens
Damar Harsanto, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Police revealed on Thursday that they managed to arrest four suspects in Mangga Besar, Central Jakarta in a drug bust, two of whom were Hong Kong citizens.
The police managed to seize 4.6 kilograms of shabu-shabu (crystal methamphetamine)) valued at around Rp 1.6 billion -- the biggest haul confiscated by the police so far this year.
"We nabbed the suspects while they were conducting a transaction," said South Jakarta Police chief Sr. Comr. Abdur Rahman.
The four suspects are Au Yun Chuen, 52 and Wong Kok Yung aka Aweng, both Hong Kong nationals, A Tek, 38, and Husen alias Jimmy, 37.
The suspects were captured at Hotel Dusit on Jl. Mangga Besar Raya, Central Jakarta in room No. 1014 after they had been under police surveillance for a month, Rahman said.
Rahman said the suspects were charged under Law No. 5 1997 on drugs and narcotics. "If convicted, they can face the death sentence or be sentenced to life in prison."
In addition to the four suspects, police also shot to death a drug pusher, named Dedi Susanto alias Edi Brewok, 45, who was conducting the transaction at the time of the arrest, Rahman said.
"We shot him three times in the back after he attempted to escape," said South Jakarta Police chief Sr. Comr. Abdur Rahman.
Dedi died on the way to the hospital, Rahman said.
According to Rahman, Dedi has been wanted by police for a long time for drug trafficking.
"He was just released from Cipinang Penitentiary two months ago," said Rahman.
Dedi was known to the police as a drug pusher trading drugs at hotels in several cities across the country, like Yogyakarta, Surabaya, Bali, and Jakarta.
Rahman revealed that police also tracked down Dedi who was suspected of supplying drugs to inmates in Cipinang Penitentiary in East Jakarta.
Police arrested two prison guards earlier last month, named Yusman Harahap, 43, and Syukur Denny, 37, for smuggling drugs into the penitentiary. Police claimed Yusman obtained the drugs from Dedi.
"The arrest may lead to an international drug ring," said chief of South Jakarta Police detectives, Comr. Merdisyam who also led the team that arrested the suspects.
Merdisyam said the police were still hunting down other suspects in the network, but he declined to name them.
Rahman said police had not concluded whether the drugs were smuggled into the country or produced locally as they also found 12 kgs of liquid chemical and 1.2 kgs of a substance suspected to be the raw material for the drugs.
"We don't know yet as we are still waiting for the result of the investigation from the police laboratory and forensics center," Rahman said.
Separately, the police narcotics division also conducted a joint raid to net drug pushers in several areas in Jakarta along with 80 anti-drug activists of an anti-drugs movement, Geram.
During the raids, which were launched in Kampung Bali in Central Jakarta and the Army's general staff housing complex in Pengadegan, South Jakarta, police managed to capture six people, namely Raswati, 50, Miftah, 37, Saleh, 17, Suharda, 30, and two unidentified men.
Police seized 50 grams of putauw (low grade heroin), an electronic scale, and a syringe.