IDNAround – National Police Chief Listyo Sigit Prabowo confirmed on Friday that newly-appointed East Java Police Chief Insp. General Teddy Minahasa has been arrested for alleged drug trafficking.
The arrest was a follow-up from an ongoing investigation by the Jakarta Police into a suspected drug ring with covert links to a number of police officers, Listyo said.
“From that [investigation], we detected involvement by Insp. Gen. TM,” Listyo told a news conference at the police headquarters in South Jakarta, identifying Teddy by his initials.
The news came only four days after Listyo appointed Teddy as the new provincial police chief for East Java replacing Insp. General Nico Afinta, who was under public scrutiny for the October 1 crush that killed at least 131 people at Kanjuruhan football stadium in the town of Malang.
Listyo said he is canceling Teddy’s appointment.
“With regard to TM’s position after I issued an internal memo on his assignment in East Java recently, I will issue a new memo later today to cancel that out and appoint a new officer,” Listyo said.
At least three other officers, including a former police chief of the West Sumatra town of Bukittinggi, were implicated in the same case, Listyo said. The identities of the three officers have not been disclosed yet.
Teddy was the provincial police chief in West Sumatra before his East Java assignment.
He has been stripped of official duties and will face an ethics hearing parallel to the criminal investigation against him, Listyo said.
The disgraced officer has allegedly sold drugs police seized and kept in evidence lockers.
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