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Police seize narcotics worth $6m from seven suspects
Tito Karnavian - JP/DMRThe Jakarta Police announced Monday they had confiscated various types of narcotics worth Rp 83
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Tito Karnavian - JP/DMR
The Jakarta Police announced Monday they had confiscated various types of narcotics worth Rp 83.15 billion (US$6.06 million) during three different operations targeting seven suspects from Nov. 12 to 20.
Jakarta Police chief Insp. Gen. Tito Karnavian said all the narcotics had been smuggled in from abroad, mostly from China, by organized international drug rings.
'Jakarta has become a big potential market for international drug rings because of its rising economic development and the increasing purchasing power of people,' he told reporters in a press briefing at the Jakarta Police headquarters in South Jakarta.
The first raid was conducted on a rental house in Mangga Besar, West Jakarta, on Nov. 12 after the police received reports about narcotics transactions at the house, said Jakarta Police narcotics unit chief Sr. Comr. Eko Daniyanto, adding that the police had confiscated 15 kilograms of crystal methamphetamine and arrested a Taiwanese man identified only as CPS.
Eko said after extracting information from CPS, the police had then raided an apartment in North Jakarta and seized another 10 kilograms of meth. The suspect said he got all the meth from China from a Taiwanese man identified only as SL, who was still at large, Eko added.
On Nov. 18, after conducting a series of investigations on an international drug ring, the police had raided a night club in Taman Sari, West Jakarta, and arrested four Taiwanese nationals and one Indonesian, he said.
He said the police had then raided an apartment in Penjaringan, North Jakarta, where the suspects stored their narcotics, he said, adding that the police had found 26,400 kilograms of meth hidden inside several electric generator parts.
'An X-ray scanner could not detect the meth because it was hidden inside those thick parts. This is a new method for them to pass a custom clearance,' Tito said.
He said drug traffickers always learned new tricks to work around the clearance system and trick customs inspectors at the airports.
On Nov. 20, the police had raided premises on Jl. Enggano Raya in Tanjung Priok, North Jakarta, after receiving reports about occasional drug deals around the location, Eko said.
He said the police seized 1,000 nimetazepam pills, also called Happy Five, and a firearm, along with five bullets, from suspects found on the scene.
'The police saw a suspicious person picking up something covered with a black plastic bag. The police then busted the person who immediately took out a gun,' he said.
He said the man had confessed during an interrogation that he had been ordered to pick up the drugs from a Lampung-based military officer, who was still at large.
Eko said all suspects would be charged under Article 114 of Law No. 35/2009 on narcotics, which carries a maximum sentence of death. (saf)
