VZCZCXRO2363
PP RUEHCHI RUEHCN RUEHDT RUEHHM
DE RUEHJA #0334/01 0511032
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 201032Z FEB 08
FM AMEMBASSY JAKARTA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 8037
INFO RUEHZS/ASSOCIATION OF SOUTHEAST ASIAN NATIONS PRIORITY
RUEHBY/AMEMBASSY CANBERRA 2019
RUEHNE/AMEMBASSY NEW DELHI 1590
RUEHKO/AMEMBASSY TOKYO 1535
RUEHWL/AMEMBASSY WELLINGTON 2337
RUEHPT/AMCONSUL PERTH 0572
RUEATRS/DEPT OF TREASURY WASHDC
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC
RHMCSUU/FBI WASHINGTON DC
RUEAWJB/DEPT OF JUSTICE WASHDC
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHDC
RHHJJPI/USPACOM HONOLULU HI
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 JAKARTA 000334
SIPDIS
SENSITIVE
SIPDIS
DEPT FOR EAP, EAP/MTS, EAP/MLS, S/CT, DS, INL, OES/ENRC
DOJ FOR CTS THORNTON
INL FOR BOULDIN, AAG SWARTZ
TREASURY FOR BROOKS, KEHLERS
NSC FOR E. PHU
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV PREL PTER ID
SUBJECT: USG-FUNDED PATROL BOATS MAKE WAVES AGAINST
TRANSNATIONAL CRIME
REF: 07 JAKARTA 3143
JAKARTA 00000334 001.2 OF 002
1. (U) This message is Sensitive but Unclassified -- Please
handle accordingly.
2. (SBU) SUMMARY: USG-provided patrol boats are making a
difference in the GOI's campaign against transnational crime.
Over the past several weeks, Indonesian Police Marine Units
have seized vessels involved in the transportation of illegal
goods, such as logs and fish catches. The high-speed boats
provide the Marine Police for the first time with
over-the-horizon visibility, a capability also useful in
anti-terrorist and anti-piracy operations. END SUMMARY.
3. (SBU) USG-PROVIDED PATROL BOATS: The Department of
State, through its Bureau for International Narcotics and Law
Enforcement (INL), and the Department of Justice's
International Criminal Investigation and Training Assistance
Program (ICITAP) have provided 15 high-speed patrol boats and
training to the Indonesian National Police's (INP) Marine
Police. The boats arrived in October 2007 and were fully
operational by mid-January 2008. They are already making a
positive contribution to the INP's campaign against
transnational crime, including by countering illegal logging,
fish catches, and trafficking in persons.
4. (SBU) The boats are now deployed to areas throughout the
archipelago--but mainly in the Malacca Strait and the
Sulawesi Sea south of Mindanao--to augment the INP's
strategic goals of better controlling their territorial
waterways. The DOS-DOJ program plans to provide five
additional boats: two in Ternate, North Maluku, two in
Sorong, Papua, and one for the Island of Java.
5. (SBU) SUCCESS IN OPERATIONS: The boats are already
having an impact. The INP's Marine Police Special Boat Unit
based on the island of Tarakon (located in East Kalimantan
astride the Makassar Strait and near the Malaysian border)
has made good use of its patrol boats. The two boats used
intelligence provided by national and local INP units to stop
and board a fishing boat on February 8. Police sources
stated that the crew of three Indonesian nationals were
illegally transporting 7-9 tons of fish caught without proper
permits. While the amount of fish is not significant by
itself, the fact that the arrests were made signals the
intent of the INP to enforce national laws and that it has
the capability to do so. For the first time, the boats are
making it possible for the Marine Police to patrol farther
from their bases, and to use speed to catch-up with and board
vessels suspected of committing crimes.
6. (SBU) Illegal logging is also a serious problem in
Indonesia. A Marine Police patrol boat was utilizing its new
"over-the-horizon" navigation system on December 28, 2007,
when the crew spotted a vessel loaded with logs in the
Malacca Strait (near the islands of Batam, Indonesia and
Singapore). Upon closer inspection of the cargo, the captain
of the police boat recognized the cargo as mangrove logs, a
protected species of wood in Indonesia. The police boarded
the vessel, determined that the crew did not have proper
permits for the logs, and arrested all three crew members.
The 1,700 logs, each measuring five meters in length, have a
value of $10-$100 per log or $17,000-170,000 for the
shipment.
7. (SBU) In addition, in late January, the Marine Police
made a seizure and arrest in the vicinity of Bangka Island,
near South Sumatra. The two Marine Police boats stationed on
Bangka were using their "over-the-horizon" navigation system
to expand their normal patrol area. The crews spotted a ship
that looked suspicious so they boarded it. The boat was
originally a fishing vessel that had been converted into a
JAKARTA 00000334 002.2 OF 002
tanker to haul illegal fuel from Indonesia to Malaysia. The
crew was arrested and brought back to Bangka for further
interviewing. The new patrol boats made the seizure possible
due to their ability to patrol beyond the confines of coastal
areas. The training the crew had received from the
INL-funded program also was essential.
8. (SBU) A BIG PLUS FOR THE GOI: Although the 15 patrol
boats provided by the USG are not large vessels (about 30
feet in length), their seaworthiness and advanced navigation
systems give the Marine Police greater flexibility to search
larger areas of both fresh water and ocean water within the
17,000 islands that make up Indonesia. The Marine Police
crews now have the equipment and training to aggressively
search for incidents of transnational crime in parts of the
country that were previously difficult to routinely monitor.
9. (SBU) In the short time since deployment of the boats,
not all of which are even yet operational, the boats have
clearly made a dramatic difference. We see this as just the
beginning of what we expect will be a significant up-tick in
interdictions and seizures. These new capabilities will also
be useful for the GOI in anti-terrorist and anti-piracy
operations.
HUME