Police smash supermarket theft ring, arrest nine

Police smash supermarket theft ring, arrest nine

JAKARTA (JP): Police have smashed two supermarket theft
syndicates arresting nine people for stealing goods worth Rp 6
billion (US$2.57 million).

The chief of the City Police Detectives, Col. Paimin Aboeamr
said yesterday police had filled six trucks with confiscated
clothes, boxes of milk, perfumes and many other items. Police
also confiscated two Kijang vans and two motorcycles the
syndicates were believed to have used.

Paimin said police had not yet found any connection between
the two groups which had similar modus operandi.

The Rp 6 billion of goods were stolen within just one month,
Paimin said, adding that he believed the syndicates had been
operating for years.

The first syndicate's members, Rosita, 34, Stella, 22, Risky,
32, Medi Rony Tendean, 31, Sayuti, 36, and Suryono, alias Asun,
23, were arrested at Rosita's house in Cakung, East Jakarta.
Asun, who is believed to be the mastermind, was picked up at his
home on Jl. Taman Meruya Ilir, West Jakarta.

The second syndicate's members, Muksinah, 46, Tarmudi, 29, and
Haryanto Kurniawan, alias Teng San, 42, were arrested at Teng
San's house on Jl. Taman Sari, West Jakarta. Teng San is believed
to be the boss.

The hunt for the gang members had began two weeks ago after
reports from the Indonesian Retail Business Association.

Paimin said the syndicates operated at the Hero supermarket in
Kalibata, South Jakarta, Ramayana Department Store in Cililitan,
East Jakarta, Matahari Department Store in Pasar Baru, Central
Jakarta and Makro in Kampung Rambutan, East Jakarta.

Capt. Ismudi, chief of the team assigned to deal with the
thefts, said police were still hunting two men, Hadi and Aseng,
who are thought to be the buyers.

In the syndicate's operations, one member always waited in a
van while another member pretended to be a customer and kept
supermarket staff busy. Other members then stole goods and put
them into bags.

"They met at a certain place before starting the operation.
They could go to between two and four different supermarkets a
day," Paimin said.

He said the thieves sold the goods to Asun and Teng San. "Teng
San said he sold the goods in the Senen market in Central
Jakarta."

"The thefts could happen simply because of the negligence of
the supermarkets' security officers and staff," Paimin said.

He asked supermarket managers to be more aware.

Meanwhile, vice chairman of the Indonesian Retail Business
Association Surya Dharma Ali, who is also vice president of Hero
Supermarkets, said thieves stole more than one percent of Hero's
merchandise in a year. "The average loss is between Rp 5 billion
and Rp 6 billion annually due to theft," he said. (jun)