Trigger-happy policeman sinks undercover drug op

Evi Mariani, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

A highly confidential operation to uncover an international drug syndicate by a joint team from the National Police and the Jakarta Police turned into a farce after a policeman from the Central Jakarta Police precinct, who was not involved in the operation, shot two undercover officers from the joint team in the leg on Monday evening.

Jakarta Police chief Insp. Gen. Makbul Padmanagara told the media on Tuesday that the shootings took place at a hotel in Kampung Bali subdistrict, Central Jakarta, when the joint team from the narcotics division brought in a Nigerian suspected drug dealer who had been arrested on Sunday at the Soekarno-Hatta International Airport.

The suspect, who allegedly swallowed heroin-filled capsules, told the undercover officers that he was supposed to have a transaction at the hotel on Monday evening. When the joint team was waiting for the expected buyers, three policemen from the Central Jakarta Police precinct came to the hotel room and knocked on the door.

Two undercover policemen approached the door and opened it slightly without undoing the door chain. When the man tried to break into the room they crushed his left hand in the door without realizing that he was an officer with the police precinct. The policeman, who had no idea that the two men inside the room were undercover officers, shot them in the legs.

"They (the victims) are recovering and will be fine," said Makbul.

He said that the policeman admitted that he had received a tip-off about a possible drug transaction at the hotel.

Makbul pointed out that the city police were investigating whether the accident was really the result of a miscommunication or not.

"If we find out that the incident was set up by the drug syndicate to blow our officers' cover, we will punish any policemen involved in the setup," he said.

Makbul said he was very upset with the incident because it blew an undercover operation that should have been "highly confidential".

"It's a very discreet operation. Even the Central Jakarta police should not have known about the joint team's existence," he asserted.