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)