Indonesia Arrests Key People-Smuggler
Indonesian police said Tuesday they have arrested an Iranian-born Australian resident suspected of heading a people-smuggling network that spanned the country.
Mohammad Abdi, 36, was detained at an apartment in Jakarta on Monday along with two other Iranians, said Nani Rusiani, a senior officer in the police's anti-smuggling taskforce.
"Abdi plays an important role in the people-smuggling business," Rusiani told Agence France Presse.
"He travels at least five times a month to Indonesia from Australia to arrange boat trips."
Rusiani said police tracked Abdi down after they detained in west Java on May 8 a man called Habid Abdullah, who was working for Abdi, along with some 30 Iranian asylum-seekers who were about to head to Australia.
Abdullah told police that Abdi had given him 115 million rupiah ($11,700) to arrange the voyage.
Australia is struggling with a flood of asylum-seeker boats, mainly from Indonesia, with arrivals topping a record 16,000 last year.
The boats are usually rickety, overcrowded fishing vessels and several have sunk in recent years, killing hundreds of people and underscoring the perils of the journey.
Abdi, who has a wife and son in Melbourne, denied he was a smuggling kingpin when confronted by the The Australian newspaper after his arrest.
"Where are the people?" he said. "I am living in Melbourne now, my family is in Melbourne and 10 months ago I am coming here (Jakarta) for business."
Abdi said he traveled to Australia from Indonesia two years ago as a UN-registered refugee. The Australian said it understood he arrived by boat as an asylum-seeker.
Source: Agence France Presse
| Copyright © 2012 Naharnet.com. All Rights Reserved. | https://prod.naharnet.com/stories/en/83821 |