Aceh Police Foil Prison Break, Shariah Officer Arrested for Hash Smuggling
Jakarta Informer Sunday 22nd September, 2013
Banda Aceh - A Shariah Police officer was arrested Saturday night for allegedly attempting to supply hashish to a prisoner at West Aceh’s Meulaboh penitentiary while officers caught another prisoner attempting to saw through the jail’s bars in a failed escape attempt.
Achar, 41, was reportedly seen by police passing a package of hash through the prison’s walls, West Aceh District Police chief Adj. Sr. Cmr. Faisal Rivai said. Officers, tipped off by a prisoner, conducted a stakeout of the Paya Peunaga prison and at 6:30 p.m. they allegedly caught the Shariah Police member handing off the drugs.
“Prior to Maghrib prayers [dusk], when the day was getting darker, police officers saw someone approaching the prison walls and throwing something in through the concrete walls,” he said. “When we wanted to catch him, he tried to escape. Police fired two warning shots in the air. We eventually captured him.”
Achar attempted to escape on a motorbike but was eventually caught. He told police that he was a member of the West Aceh Shariah Police and had been supplying hash to a prison inmate. “During questioning he admitted that this was the third time he supplied hashish to a prisoner inside the prison,” Faisal said.
Police then arrested Andika Fika Rahmat, an inmate jailed on narcotics charges, and detained both men in the precinct’s cells. The investigation was still ongoing on Sunday, Faisal said.
A failed prison break
On Friday, jail staff reportedly caught another prisoner attempting to saw through the penitentiary’s metal bars. The attempt came about a month after nine prisoners escaped using a similar method, sawing through the bars and leaping eight-meters to the ground.
Six of those prisoners were re-arrested in the jungle surrounding the jail. Three remained at large. Prison staff was questioning Rahmat, the latest attempted escapee, to determine the source of the saw.
“He is still being questioned by us to find out who supplied the saw to the prisoners,” Faisal said. “There have been numerous cases like this.”
