The Jakarta Metro Police has arrested one more suspect accused of receiving a bribe to help a traveler circumvent mandatory hotel quarantine, bringing the total number of suspects in the case to four.
On Monday, the police announced the arrest of an Indonesian traveler, identified by his initials JD, who paid two people who claimed to be airport staff IDR6.5 million (US$448.39) to skip the 14-day hotel quarantine mandatory for Indonesians returning from India. The other two, identified by their initials S and RW, were also arrested.
Today, the Jakarta Metro Police announced the arrest of another man known as GC, who held a key role in the scheme.
The police, who have established an MO, said JD had cleared health screenings and immigration at the airport, and, with the help of S and RW, headed to a government-assigned hotel for quarantine.
There, GC manipulated the hotel data to show that JD had checked in.
“After [GC] received IDR4 million (US$275.66) from [JD], the latter was able to go home,” Jakarta Metro Police spokesman Yusri Yunus said, explaining that GC received the biggest cut in the operation.
It’s not clear what the suspects’ actual jobs are, but police found Soekarno-Hatta Airport ID passes from the Jakarta Tourism Agency on S and RW, which may explain how they managed to freely move about the airport.
The police are still open to the possibility that this case could be an entrypoint to a larger bribery scheme involving an organized crime syndicate that helps returning travelers circumvent mandatory isolation for a fee.
