Suspected drug dealer nabbed

JAKARTA (JP): City police detectives seized one kilogram of shabu-shabu, an amphetamine derivative, on Thursday in the Mangga Dua area of North Jakarta, an officer said on Friday.

The head of the city police detectives, Col. Alex Bambang Riatmodjo, said one suspect, Zainal Abidin alias A Kian, 34, was arrested at midday on Thursday outside the Pesona Bahari apartment in Mangga Dua, North Jakarta. He allegedly tried to sell the drug to an undercover officer.

The police showed reporters the shabu-shabu, packed in two white plastic bags and with a street value of Rp 300,000, at the city police detectives building on Jl. Sudirman, Central Jakarta.

Lt. Col. Zainuri Lubis, city police spokesman, told TV station SCTV and The Jakarta Post that the police had received a telephone call from the head of the customs office here, reporting the illegal sale of the drug outside the apartment block.

The suspect told reporters outside the city detectives building that the one kilogram of shabu-shabu did not belong to him.

"It is the property of Beby, alias Wong Say, a resident of Teluk Gong," said Zainal, who lives in Pejagalan, North Jakarta.

Zainal denied any involvement in the illegal drug trade.

"I did not know the contents of the plastic bags, which had sheets of newspaper in them," he said, adding that he was paid by a person named Andy to hand over the plastic bags to a buyer.

Zainal claimed to be an ojek (motorcycle taxi) driver, operating in Kelapa Tiga, North Jakarta.

He said it was the second time he had been hired by Andy.

Last year, city police handled 177 narcotics-related cases and arrested 215 suspects, 10 of which were foreigners.

Jakarta Police chief Maj. Gen. Noegroho Djajoesman told reporters in a year-end briefing last year that city police had confiscated 2,727 grams of shabu-shabu in 1998, 44,878 grams of marijuana and 3,666 grams of heroin. (01)