West Bekasi seize marijuana, arrest two

JAKARTA (JP): West Bekasi Police seized on Saturday 206 kilograms of dried marijuana with a street value of about Rp 412 million (US$54,940) from two suspected drug dealers in a housing complex.

City police spokesman Lt. Col. Zainuri Lubis identified the two as Basri, 29, who is unemployed, and Sabri, 27, a businessman.

Their identification cards stated they were residents of Galur in Central Jakarta.

The local police were checking the authenticity of their ID cards, Zainuri said.

A preliminary investigation disclosed that the suspects had rented the house at the complex on Jl. Bintara XIV for Rp 250,000 a month just three days before the raid, Zainuri said.

The men made a down payment of Rp 100,000 in cash to the owner, he said.

"They raised neighbors' suspicions since they always left the house empty and locked. They just drove up in some car, got out and never came back," Zainuri said.

"With the permission of the chief of the neighborhood community, the residents entered the house through the roof on Thursday, and found 11 large packages.

"They opened the packages and found 172 big and small packets inside."

They reported the find to police, who later checked the contents of the packets and found it to be marijuana. The problem was the two suspects had not yet returned."

Police officers waited outside the house for the two suspects who were immediately arrested upon their return at 9 a.m. on Saturday. (ylt)