T

he Jakarta Police is set to cooperate with the Australian Federal Police (AFP) to handle cyber crime.

National Police deputy chief Insp. Gen. Nanan Sukarna said that the cooperation was needed to tackle international crimes such as drug smuggling, human trafficking, terrorism and Internet fraud.

'€œThe criminals have become more technology-savvy, so we have to work together to handle these crimes,'€ he said during the officiation of the Cyber Crime Investigation Center (CCIC) at the Jakarta Police headquarters in Central Jakarta on Monday.

The center'€™s server will connect 30 regional police stations in Indonesia, the National Police headquarters and the Australian Federal Police.

Through this server, the police could communicate and exchange information to easily track suspects.

Visiting AFP chief commissioner Tony Negus mentioned the Bali bombings in 2002 and 2005 in when Indonesia and its counterparts successfully cooperated to find the perpetrators.

Nanan Sukarna said that the center could provide the police with the information and knowledge needed to catch the criminals.

'€œWe received A$9 million [US$9.31 million] to set up the infrastructure and human resource training for both centers at the National Police headquarters and the Jakarta Police,'€ he said.

Meanwhile, National Police Criminal Investigations Division (Bareskrim) chief Comr. Gen. Sutarman said that the National Police had cooperated with the Australian Federal Police in 2011 to track terrorist funding.

'€œSome terrorists use email to contact one another. We hope that the CCIC can crack down the syndicates,'€ he said.

Cyber crime unit head Adj. Sr. Comr. Audie Latuheru said that the Jakarta Police had received more than 300 public reports of cyber crime including credit card fraud, marriage scams and online shopping fraud.

'€œWe need to expand our network because we'€™re talking about international syndicates,'€ he said, adding that many of them resided in Nigeria, Cameroon and Libya.

The police'€™s cyber crime unit disclosed several high-profile cases last year, including one that involved a teenager in Depok, West Java, who was kidnapped and repeatedly raped, allegedly by a man she met through Facebook.

City police spokesman Sr. Comr. Rikwanto said the unit handled 625 cases in 2011 and had recorded 395 cases (including 253 cases of online shopping fraud) as of August 2012.

He said the police was also working with Australia, the US, and international organizations such as Interpol, to track down cyber criminals. (tam)