Stricter controls urged to foil smuggling at port
Stricter controls urged to foil smuggling at port
JAKARTA (JP): City Police chief Maj. Gen. Hamami Nata ordered
the Tanjung Priok Port police Saturday to tighten controls on the
flow of passengers and their luggage at the port to prevent drug
smuggling.
Hamami said there was a likelihood drugs syndicates would
shift their smuggling attempts to the port following the
imposition of stricter controls at Soekarno-Hatta International
Airport.
"People in the drugs business are very well aware that the
controls and inspection at the port are still not as strict as on
the passengers and their luggage at the airport," he said.
Hamami made the remarks before the installation of Lt. Col.
Edy Kuncoro as the new chief of the port police precinct on
Saturday, replacing Lt. Col. Arie Soebowo, who has been promoted
to be an inspector at the National Police's Institute of
Education and Training.
Edy, who previously led the Manokwari police precinct in Irian
Jaya, told reporters that he would do his best to both maintain
security and uphold the law at the port.
He did not give further details on his vision for the
precinct.
"For the time being, I think, I'll stick to the policies which
were implemented by my predecessor," was all he said.
Edy said that he agreed with Hamami's order to improve the
controls of the passengers and their luggage, and goods imported
in containers.
"I think it's time for us to intensify our security controls
of the flow of passengers and containers.
"More intensive control would help us catch suspects in drugs-
related cases and to cut off the distribution of drugs to the
city," he said.
However, he admitted that the precinct had little equipment,
such as an X-ray machine to detect contraband in luggage.
Edy explained that the precinct had thus far exercised
relatively good control over ships' passengers and their
belongings.
Officers at the precinct arrested a man Thursday for
attempting to smuggle almost 100 kilograms of marijuana from
Medan, North Sumatra, not 70 kilograms as was reported Saturday.
"We haven't weighed the confiscated drugs, but we can estimate
that the drugs could weigh around 100 kilograms," Edy said.
The arrested suspect, a passenger on the Bukit Siguntang ship
named Hidayah, claimed he was just the courier and not the
supplier or trafficker of the drugs, he said.
Hidayah was not alone when he traveled with the drugs from
Medan's Belawan port. "The suspect was with another passenger
whose identity is known. The person is still at large," he said.
Friday's confiscation of the Aceh-grown marijuana was about
the same weight as the haul seized in January this year. The
suspect arrested in January was also just a courier who hailed
from Medan, but apparently worked for a different group from
Hidayah. (cst)