West Jakarta thief steals Rp31m laptop from empty house, sells for just Rp2m

JAKARTA — A specialist in empty house theft with initials A stole a luxury laptop worth Rp31 million from a boarding house in Duri Kosambi, Cengkareng, West Jakarta, on Monday, 11 May 2026.

However, the stolen laptop was sold for just Rp2 million — far below market value — to someone he claimed not to know.

West Jakarta Metropolitan Police’s Resmob unit chief AKP George Ruben said the suspect admitted selling the laptop to settle personal debts.

Ruben added that the primary motive was economic pressure due to business debts.

A told investigators he owed around Rp150 million from his culinary business.

“According to his statement, he had debts of about Rp150 million for his business, which was selling nasi kebuli,” Ruben said.

In footage obtained by Kompas.com, the suspect was seen parking a red Honda Vario motorcycle in front of a boarding house.

He then entered the boarding house area to observe the surroundings before leaving with a MacBook laptop.

The laptop was immediately placed in the motorcycle’s luggage compartment before the suspect fled the scene.

Aware his actions were captured on CCTV, the suspect attempted to cover his tracks by repainting his motorcycle from red to white and using a fake license plate.

Police nonetheless successfully tracked down A and arrested him without resistance at his residence in Cengkareng on Friday afternoon.

The modus operandi involved pretending to ask for directions to assess the target area.