Police seize 55 kilos of shabu-shabu, 70,000 ecstasy pills
Abdul Khalik The Jakarta Post/Jakarta
The Jakarta Police announced on Thursday they had seized 55 kilograms of crystal methamphetamine (shabu-shabu) and 70,000 ecstasy pills from two suspected members of an international drug syndicate.
City police spokesman Sr. Comr. Tjiptono said a joint operation by the city police, the National Narcotics Agency and the city administration led to the arrests on Tuesday of two suspects. The first suspect, identified as Akwan, 41, alias Tjik Kwang, alias Ricky Chandra, was arrested in the Green Garden housing complex in West Jakarta, while Hariono Agus Tjahyono, 51, alias Seng Hwat, was detained in Kebon Jeruk, West Jakarta.
"We have been watching them since April after receiving reports from residents. Aside from the drugs, we also seized six luxury cars and Rp 1 billion in cash. We believe all of the drugs that were seized were smuggled in from Hong Kong," he said.
He said that using information obtained from the suspects during questioning, the police were now looking for a main supplier, identified as Pieter, and four traffickers identified only as AR, AW, ER and HR.
"We have put them on our wanted list and we are concentrating on finding them. We believe we have the chance to break up a large syndicate," he said.
Tjiptono said the two suspects were being detained at Jakarta Police Headquarters for further questioning.
In a separate operation, police said on Wednesday they had arrested four suspected drug dealers and seized 8,500 ecstasy pills and 100 grams of shabu-shabu in three separate locations in Jakarta.
Two of the suspects, Ray Angela, 27, alias Sherly, and Purwanto Nugroho, 31, alias Kiki, were apprehended in Sunter Hijau, North Jakarta. Another suspect, identified as Lie Jie Tek, 44, was arrested in Gunung Sahari, Central Jakarta.
Two weeks ago, about 90 suspected drug dealers were arrested in several locations in East Jakarta, while officers arrested four suspected members of a drug syndicate and seized 176 kilograms of marijuana last week.