It’s been one of those weeks with so many major news stories that we barely had time to breathe. The arrest of FPI’s former secretary general kicked off the week, and it’s a huge one because so many people had been expecting him to be arrested for various reasons involving the FPI. And then there’s the recycled test kits at Kuala Namu Airport as well as the syndicate that had let people evade quarantine at Soekarno Hatta Airport. What is it with the airports?
We’re saving the funniest story for its own edition, though, so stay tuned for it.
Munarman Arrested
Former Secretary General of the now banned radical organization FPI, Munarman, was arrested at his home on Tuesday (27/4) afternoon by the Densus 88 anti terrorism squad. According to the police, Munarman is suspected of conspiring to commit terorism and hiding evidence of terrorist acts.
The police raided his home in Pamulang, South Tangerang as well as the location of the former FPI headquarters in Petamburan, West Jakarta and seized a ton of potentially evidential material including more than 60 books, mobile phones, flash drives, as well as several canisters of liquids and white powder.
Munarman’s lawyer Aziz Yanuar argued that the canisters contained nothing more than toilet cleaners which were often used when the FPI participated in community clean up efforts around the area. However, the police claimed that those are actually triacetone triperoxide (TATP). Toilet cleaners typically contain hydrogen peroxide, different from TATP, a highly combustible material often used by terrorists around the world as explosives.
Bombings in Paris (2015), Brussels (2016, 2017), Manchester Arena (2017), London (2017), and Surabaya (2018) all used TATP as the explosive substance. TATP is also known as Mother of Satan due to its mixture and explosive nature, which is more devastating than TNT.
Munarman’s arrest is also connected to an oath to allegiance to ISIS in Makassar as well as two other undetermined pledges in Jakarta and Medan. Police is also investigating a possible link to the Makassar Cathedral bombing in late March.
Former Deputy Speaker of the national Assembly Fadli Zon posted on Instagram refusing to believe that Munarman is a terrorist or even linked to terrorism given their long-term relationship. Then again this is the person who believed that conservative activist and actor Ratna Sarumpaet was assaulted when she actually just had a facial plastic surgery.
In 2013 Munarman went viral for throwing a cup of tea at sociologist Prof. Thamrin Tamagola on live television during a morning show.
Recycled Test Kits at Kuala Namu Airport
In another police operation this week, they uncovered a syndicate at Kuala Namu Airport in Medan, North Sumatra, involving reused Covid-19 test kits which apparently had been ongoing since 17 December 2020.
Hundreds of used and new test kits were seized in a raid of the testing facilities after numerous complaints from airline passengers about inaccurate test results.
Five employees of the facility, operated by PT Kimia Farma Diagnostika, a subsidiary of state owned pharmaceutical company Kimia Farma, were arrested in connection with the fraud after a sting operation involving an undercover cop. That’s some brave cop risking his life by potentially infecting himself with Covid-19 from reused swabs.
The police said that the syndicate had been earning Rp30 million a day from 100-150 daily tests using the recycled kits. Reportedly the facility had been administering up to 250 tests per day and submitting only 100 legitimate tests, while pocketing the money paid for the rest.
Since that the scam had been running since mid December last year, the five perps potentially may have earned themselves Rp3.90 billion. Police said there had been 9000 victims of this fraud, but given the number of days it has taken place, there may be more than 13,000 victims.
The manager of the facility, suspected to be the brains of the operation, apparently had been building a house in South Sumatra, with questionable taste for a gate.
Quarantine Evaders
Police have charged 4 people for helping seven travellers arriving at Soekarno Hatta Airport from overseas bypass the mandatory 5-day quarantine period. Together they posed as health agency officials allowing them to take the paying travellers away on taxis when they should have boarded a bus which would take them to a quarantine facility. Police have arrested five of the seven people who evaded the quarantine requirement.
One of these so-called “quarantine mafia” was a retired Jakarta tourism agency official who somehow obtained an airport security pass. He operated with his son and two others who each also had a similar pass.
Police said the security passes they possessed were legit and that all the suspects seemed to know their way around the airport. They are still investigating how the suspects obtained the passes.
The four appeared to have operated for a long time. An Indonesian who has been travelling in and out of India told the cops that he has used their service twice paying them Rp 6.5 million each time.
Members of parliament are demanding a thorough investigation saying that this could be the tip of the iceberg adding that a similar scheme might be happening at other airports. Attorney General Sanitiar Burhanuddin said he will make sure the perpetrators are punished severely.
Quick Reads
Madiun turns haunted prison into quarantine facility
Anyone insisting on heading to Madiun for the upcoming Lebaran holiday may find themselves spending quarantine in an abandoned and haunted military prison currently in the middle of renovation. If people aren’t scared of Covid, maybe this will scare them.
65 people detained in Jakarta as Persija fans ignored the pandemic
Despite calls from organizers to celebrate or contemplate the results of the pre-season Menpora Cup competition at home, hundreds of Persija fans descended onto Bundaran HI roundabout to celebrate the victory over their longtime rivals, Bandung’s Persib. Meanwhile in Bandung, upset supporters took out their frustrations on vehicles with Jakarta license plates.
Terawan declines ambassadorship to Spain
Long rumored to be the next ambassador to Spain, His Cloudestness apparently has declined the nomination so that he can focus on getting Nusantara “vaccine” back on track. This could be a two boats and a helicopter scenario.
Private firms can soon pay the government to have their employees vaccinated after the Food and Drug Supervisory Agency (BPOM) announced that they have issued an emergency use authorization for Covid-19 vaccines produced by China's Sinopharm, which will be used for the so-called Gotong Royong vaccination scheme. The announcement came just hours before 482k Sinopharm vaccines arrived at Soetta Airport.
Don’t forget that we’re putting together a special edition of the Nuiceletter about the thieving werepig which cemented Depok’s reputation as Indonesia’s Florida. Subscribe to get it in your inbox later this week!