Suspected drug couriers used counterfeit passports: Police
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)