Trigger-happy policeman sinks undercover drug op

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.