Police Arrest 2 Honorary Employees Of Makassar City Government Syndicate Of Cattle Thief

Illustration - A number of cows looking for food at the Antang Final Disposal Site (TPA), Manggala District, Makassar, South Sulawesi. ANTARA/Arnas Padda.

MAKASSAR - Criminal Investigation Unit of the Manggala Police, Makassar City, uncovered the practice of cattle theft syndicates that have been operating for two years by arresting three suspects. Two of them are honorary within the Makassar City Government, South Sulawesi.

"Three suspected cattle thieves were arrested. Two were honorary, while the other, the last one was secured by traders (suspected of being collectors) of beef," said Manggala Police Chief Kompol Samuel To'longan as reported by ANTARA, Friday, June 20.

These two honorary people with the initials H (31) worked at the Environment Agency (DHL) and the initials AR (23) worked at the Rappocini District Office who was arrested in Makassar City, following the perpetrator with the initials S (31) suspected of being a stolen cow collector who was arrested in Maros Regency.

The syndicate mode of the cattle theft network run by the perpetrators is to steal cows roaming the Antang Final Disposal Site (TPA), Manggala District.

The two perpetrators used the excavator to paralyze the cow who was looking for food at the TPA. Furthermore, the cows were transported and transferred to the garbage truck that had been prepared.

Then, the cows were transported to one of the slaughterhouses to slaughter the animals and the meat was taken by perpetrator S as a trader. He also sells the meat according to the normal price so that the buyer is not suspected.

"The perpetrator with the initials H as the excavator operator is in charge of crippling the cow, while the AR perpetrator brings the cow to be cut. Meanwhile, S sells the meat at retail at a regular price, so that it is not suspected," said the police chief.

From H's statement, he gets a wage of between Rp. 500 thousand to Rp. 1 million each time he executes a cow. Meanwhile, AR, who brought garbage trucks, received a salary of Rp. 200 thousand to Rp. 300 thousand per transport.

The two perpetrators were free to carry out their actions because their work was related to waste management at the local TPA, making it easier to steal cattle that roamed the location.

"The results of the examination found 14 notes on the sale of cattle from perpetrator S, who is suspected of being a collector of beef, are around Rp. 180 million. They have been carrying out this theft practice for more than two years. We continue to develop this case, and reveal who was involved," said Samuel.

The disclosure of the case after these cattle breeders felt suspicious that the livestock continued to decrease and disappeared, then reported the incident to the police station. After a follow-up with an in-depth investigation, it was revealed that this cow had been stolen by their syndicate network.

These perpetrators are subject to Article 363 paragraph (1) 1 of the Criminal Code which is a form of weighting the crime of theft which is usually regulated in Article 362 of the Criminal Code with a maximum penalty of 7 criminal years.