Police crack down car theft syndicate

The Jakarta Post , Jakarta | Fri, 05/18/2007 7:55 AM | Jakarta

JAKARTA: Police smashed a car theft syndicate, arresting six people at the end of a one-month operation, the Jakarta Police said Tuesday.

""We've arrested six people from the syndicate, including the leader and seized 29 cars during our operation from April 11 to May 12,"" said Comr. Nico Afinta, chief of the city police's car theft unit.

He said the suspects, identified as Sutrisno, Ade Arif, Ahmad, Teddy, Dadang and Hartono, had operated the ring in Bandung, Cirebon and Indramayu in West Java, as well as in Yogyakarta.

The six are being held at the city police detention center.

Nico said the arrests were made after the police received information from the public about cars being sold far below market prices, some of them without documentation.

He said an undercover policeman snared one of the syndicate's members, Teddy, by posing as a buyer for a used Toyota Avanza. Teddy offered the car for only Rp 27 million (US$ 3,000), far below the market price of between Rp 60 million and Rp 70 million.

They agreed to meet in the parking lot of a fast food restaurant in Cibubur, East Jakarta, on April 11. Police then moved in and arrested Teddy.

Sutrisno, the syndicate's alleged mastermind, was arrested in Bandung on April 18, while Ade Arif and three other alleged syndicate members were arrested several days later in different West Java cities.

""Sutrisno told us he received at least 16 cars from a person identified as AY and then distributed them to Indramayu, Bandung, Cirebon and Yogyakarta,"" Nico added.

AY is still at large. (JP)

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