2 Youths In Tulungagung Python Snake Thief Arrested By Police

Zaenal Arifin shows his python which is worth 45 million rupiah. ANTARA/HO-Humas Tulungagung Police

TULUNGAGUNG - The Ngantru Police Team, Tulungagung, East Java, arrested two young men who stole a python belonging to an animal lover. The stolen snake was then sold on social media for millions of rupiah.

"This perpetrator was arrested through a cyber operation on Facebook's social media," said Ngantru Police Chief AKP Puji Widodo in Tulungagung, quoted by Antara, Tuesday, November 16.

The two young men with the initials OK (20) and RI (17) were arrested after being framed by the police who disguised themselves as potential buyers of the stolen python.

"After the COD (meeting) purchase was made, we finally found the perpetrators and the stolen evidence (snakes)," said Puji Widodo.

The two suspects were then immediately taken to the Ngantru Police Headquarters for investigation purposes. For OK, detention is immediately carried out, while RI who are still underage are required to report twice a week.

According to the perpetrator's statement, before carrying out the action, about two weeks earlier he visited the victim's house, with the intention of buying a pet snake. Both the victim and the perpetrator are fellow reptile lovers, but in different communities.

"The sale of the snake is planned to buy a motorcycle, and some to be kept for myself," he said.

From the examination, it did not take long for the perpetrators to beat the snakes, it only took less than an hour. The snake was carried in a cloth bag.

The temporary evidence was brought to the victim's house, because it needed special treatment. Meanwhile, Zaenal Arifin suspects that the perpetrator turned off the electricity before committing the theft, so his actions were not recorded on CCTV.

As a result of this theft, he claimed to have suffered a loss of up to Rp. 133 million. The magnitude of this loss is because the missing snakes have prices ranging from Rp. 3 million to Rp. 45 million.