Suspected drug couriers used counterfeit passports: Police
JAKARTA (JP): Police disclosed on Tuesday that two of the seven suspected local drug couriers arrested last week used counterfeit Malaysian passports made in Bangkok.
Head of the Jakarta Police narcotics unit Lt. Col. Abdullah said the suspects were working with an African-led international drug syndicate to smuggle cocaine and heroin in and out of Indonesia.
"The passports were made by members of their African drug ring in Bangkok for US$5,000 each. It's part of the package of their international drug trade," the city's senior drug police officer said.
He said the couriers attempted to evade thorough checks by airport officials by arriving late at the airport and seeking to be ushered quickly to the boarding gate.
"They used to arrive about 15 minutes or 10 minutes before the departure time of the flights, so that their drug-laden baggage would also receive minimal fuss at the immigration and baggage checked," he added.
Police seized six kilograms of cocaine and US$3,000 in cash from Ranni Andriani last Wednesday, and five kilograms of cocaine and $3,000 in cash from Deni Setya Maharwan, at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport.
Both were about to board a London-bound flight via Hong Kong at the time of their arrest. Police also apprehended five other people at the airport who were suspected of being couriers for the same syndicate.
One of the five other suspects, later identified as Merika Franola, alias Rika, was found with 1.6 kilograms of heroin and four kilograms of cocaine. She was identified as the coordinator of the local couriers.
Gunfight
The arrests led police detectives to the home of five African nationals in Cipete, South Jakarta, Wednesday evening. Police shot and killed the five men, who allegedly headed the local drug trafficking operation, in a gunfight.
The men were identified as Semeiu Jhola Oladi Pupo and Muueeden Boca Rinwa of Nigeria; Freeman Charles Siafa of Liberia; Ebraheem Mohammed of Togo; and Mouza Sulaiman Domala of the Ivory Coast.
Rika, who was married to Mouza, said on Tuesday that she became a drug courier last year to help her husband. She said she received a handsome payment to coordinate the six other local couriers to deliver and pick up drugs.
"Mouza explained to me in late 1998 that my wifely duty was to help him," Rika said at the Jakarta Police Headquarters.
She said she believed Mouza was a footwear and garment trader when she married him in February 1998.
"After I gave birth to our baby in August 1998, he used to beat me badly because he was frustrated with his job. I never dared ask him outright what he did. Somehow, though, I had an inkling.
"Later I found out that a friend of mine who was somehow involved with Mouza in this drug business had died mysteriously. Then I got really scared."
She said the lucrative offers to help Mouza eventually became too tempting to refuse.
Her job was to check through the airport windows if the couriers successfully passed through immigration. She also took trips to countries such as Argentina and Brazil to verify the safety of routes for the couriers.
Rika insisted that there was no collusion with Indonesian officials and "I never bribed any airport officials".
She added that her final means to ensure the couriers would not be caught was to pray to God.
"When our couriers went abroad, my husband and I would fast and pray to Allah so that our couriers would reach their destinations safely and get the deal done," Rika said. (ylt)