Read Online Hotel Kerobokan by Kathryn Bonella - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Kathryn Bonella
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ecstasy tablets worth one and a half billion rupiah ($200,000) hidden in a loudspeaker box.
The suspects, Iwan Thalib and a woman he says is his wife, Jolita, were arrested upon arriving at Ngurah Rai Airport from Amsterdam on Friday. A police source said that the authorities have long suspected the two. It is believed that Iwan opened a furniture and silver souvenir shop as a cover. The police said they believe Iwan is one of the island’s major ecstasy dealers. The police source also said that a police officer, who was suspected of cooperating with Iwan and seen waiting for him at the airport, disappeared as soon as he saw Iwan was in trouble .
– Jakarta Post , 12 June 1996
Iwan was sentenced to only fourteen months in jail the first time, barely interrupting his drug business. After his release, the charismatic, pony-tailed drug dealer, who had once acted in a couple of movies, started pressing ecstasy tablets in his two-room apartment above his high-end electrical shop in Bali’s Seminyak – an exclusive beach area populated with five-star hotels, villas and rich expatriates. Iwan lived upstairs in the drug den, drove around in the latest BMW and supplied all the clubs with ecstasy pills.
He was well known to the Bali police, who for a backhander mostly let him fly under the radar to get on with business, although a few always had him in their sights for an extra stripe on their uniform. He had evaded arrest a couple of times. Police had stopped two drug couriers with a kilogram of shabu (ice) hidden in the BMW they were driving. It turned out to be Iwan’s car and, they claimed, Iwan’s drugs, but he went untouched. Police also tried to arrest him in a Kuta nightclub after getting a tip-off that he had illegal drugs on him. But he was empty-handed when they nabbed him. Iwan’s elusiveness and the police’s inability to make a case against him resulted in several Bali police being suspected of taking gifts from him (even a house and a car), being guests at his parties and colluding with him. He’d been on the police’s most wanted list for years. Late one night, they finally got him.
Police patiently waited outside Iwan’s Seminyak shop, hiding in bushes or inside and behind parked cars, avoiding the security camera perched above the shop’s front door. They were armed and ready to strike. As Iwan walked down his stairs at about 2 am, he suspected nothing. He was on his way to see a friend in hospital after late-night surgery. He casually stepped out of his front door and boom . His world lit up. Bright lights hit him in the face as police turned on their car headlights. Blinded momentarily, he didn’t see police jumping out from the shadows and surrounding him with guns. But he heard their shouts. ‘It’s him, it’s him’, before they called out to him, ‘We want to go upstairs and search your premises’. Iwan simply nodded and put his hands in the air. He knew one day this would happen. He also knew that upstairs he had enough stuff to put him in front of a firing squad. He kept his cool. Without evidence, police weren’t allowed inside.
But when a police officer walked across and searched him, he hit pay dirt. Iwan had eight grams of shabu in the pocket of his shirt. It was the green light that police needed to go inside. It was crazy for Iwan to carry drugs outside his drug den, but he had become blasé after years of police tip-offs and immunity. Twenty police officers followed him up the stairs to his den, two or three pointing guns at his lower spine. Iwan stayed cool. Once upstairs, he walked across to his fridge and pulled out a few beers to offer to the police. They declined. He snapped one open for himself anyway and sat down on the floor. Several of the officers joined him on the ground, amicably talking about the latest football scores. In the next room, officers ransacked his den.
He’s a very cool guy, very Al Pacino. I arrived a couple of minutes after they took him upstairs.
The suspects, Iwan Thalib and a woman he says is his wife, Jolita, were arrested upon arriving at Ngurah Rai Airport from Amsterdam on Friday. A police source said that the authorities have long suspected the two. It is believed that Iwan opened a furniture and silver souvenir shop as a cover. The police said they believe Iwan is one of the island’s major ecstasy dealers. The police source also said that a police officer, who was suspected of cooperating with Iwan and seen waiting for him at the airport, disappeared as soon as he saw Iwan was in trouble .
– Jakarta Post , 12 June 1996
Iwan was sentenced to only fourteen months in jail the first time, barely interrupting his drug business. After his release, the charismatic, pony-tailed drug dealer, who had once acted in a couple of movies, started pressing ecstasy tablets in his two-room apartment above his high-end electrical shop in Bali’s Seminyak – an exclusive beach area populated with five-star hotels, villas and rich expatriates. Iwan lived upstairs in the drug den, drove around in the latest BMW and supplied all the clubs with ecstasy pills.
He was well known to the Bali police, who for a backhander mostly let him fly under the radar to get on with business, although a few always had him in their sights for an extra stripe on their uniform. He had evaded arrest a couple of times. Police had stopped two drug couriers with a kilogram of shabu (ice) hidden in the BMW they were driving. It turned out to be Iwan’s car and, they claimed, Iwan’s drugs, but he went untouched. Police also tried to arrest him in a Kuta nightclub after getting a tip-off that he had illegal drugs on him. But he was empty-handed when they nabbed him. Iwan’s elusiveness and the police’s inability to make a case against him resulted in several Bali police being suspected of taking gifts from him (even a house and a car), being guests at his parties and colluding with him. He’d been on the police’s most wanted list for years. Late one night, they finally got him.
Police patiently waited outside Iwan’s Seminyak shop, hiding in bushes or inside and behind parked cars, avoiding the security camera perched above the shop’s front door. They were armed and ready to strike. As Iwan walked down his stairs at about 2 am, he suspected nothing. He was on his way to see a friend in hospital after late-night surgery. He casually stepped out of his front door and boom . His world lit up. Bright lights hit him in the face as police turned on their car headlights. Blinded momentarily, he didn’t see police jumping out from the shadows and surrounding him with guns. But he heard their shouts. ‘It’s him, it’s him’, before they called out to him, ‘We want to go upstairs and search your premises’. Iwan simply nodded and put his hands in the air. He knew one day this would happen. He also knew that upstairs he had enough stuff to put him in front of a firing squad. He kept his cool. Without evidence, police weren’t allowed inside.
But when a police officer walked across and searched him, he hit pay dirt. Iwan had eight grams of shabu in the pocket of his shirt. It was the green light that police needed to go inside. It was crazy for Iwan to carry drugs outside his drug den, but he had become blasé after years of police tip-offs and immunity. Twenty police officers followed him up the stairs to his den, two or three pointing guns at his lower spine. Iwan stayed cool. Once upstairs, he walked across to his fridge and pulled out a few beers to offer to the police. They declined. He snapped one open for himself anyway and sat down on the floor. Several of the officers joined him on the ground, amicably talking about the latest football scores. In the next room, officers ransacked his den.
He’s a very cool guy, very Al Pacino. I arrived a couple of minutes after they took him upstairs.
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