Two arrested with crystal antiques

Two arrested with crystal antiques

JAKARTA (JP): Two men were arrested yesterday for their
involvement in smuggling thousands of Eastern European crystal
antiques to Jakarta.

Police seized 211 boxes containing crystal vases, jugs and
bowls.

The crystal antiques were to be sold in Jakarta for between Rp
100,000 (US$40) and more than Rp 5 million.

The cargo was flown to Singapore from an unidentified country
and then delivered by the two men to Jakarta via Pekanbaru, a
police source said.

The source said Buyung, 28, and Bambang, 22, were arrested
yesterday about five kilometers from the Cilegon toll entrance,
Serang, West Java. The truck they were driving was loaded with
boxes containing the crystal antiques.

Buyung told journalists a man from a freight forwarding
company in Jakarta ordered him to pick up the cargo from Simpang
Tiga Airport, Pekanbaru on Monday.

He said he was hired to deliver the cargo to a place in the
Mampang Prapatan, South Jakarta. The travel documents stated the
cargo contained vehicle spare parts.

Buyung and his assistant, Bambang, said they were paid about
Rp 700,000 to deliver the goods.

The man who gave Buyung the order rented the truck for about
Rp 75,000 a day. Police said he was still at large.

Buyung said he had transported goods from outside Java to
Jakarta before. It is unclear whether he was hired by the same
person for the earlier trips.

Buyung said he suspected someone in Pekanbaru had set him up
by telling police the cargo was not the same as listed in the
travel documents.

He also claimed he did not know he was delivering smuggled
antiques. (cst)