Vedro Imanuel Girsang, Jakarta – The Jakarta Metropolitan Regional Police, through the Anti-Thug Operation, which has been carried out since May 9, 2025, has revealed 669 cases of thuggery.

According to the Head of Public Relations Sub-Division of the Jakarta Metropolitan Regional Police, Grand Commissioner Reonald Simanjuntak, extortion is the most common form of criminal act disclosed by the police to thuggery activities. "In terms of criminal acts, there were 626 extortion cases," said Reonald during a press conference on Friday, May 16, 2025.

In addition to extortion cases, the police also disclosed several other forms of criminal acts related to thuggery activities. These include 15 cases of possession of bladed weapons, 11 cases of group assault, 8 cases of assault, 7 cases of grand theft, and 2 cases of violent robbery.

Reonald revealed that the demographic of perpetrators involved in the disclosed thuggery cases is diverse. "There are beggars, illegal parking attendants, street musicians, brawlers, loan sharks, debt collectors, thugs who extort people on the street, and members of community organizations," he said.

From the perpetrators, the police have seized a sum of money suspected to be the proceeds from thuggery activities carried out. The total amount of money secured by the authorities from the 669 cases of thuggery reached tens of millions of rupiah.

"We managed to secure a total of approximately 36,234,900 rupiah in evidence money," said Reonald in front of the journalists.

The Jakarta Metropolitan Regional Police have arrested 1,197 people suspected of thuggery, with 125 of them subsequently designated as suspects. The 1072 individuals who were released were then provided with guidance and surveillance, and were required to report regularly.

In addition to capturing thousands of thugs, the Jakarta Metropolitan Regional Police also conducted the removal of hundreds of attributes affiliated with community organizations deemed to be causing public distress. Reonald revealed that the Central Jakarta area had the highest number of community organization removals. "A total of 141 (attributes) were removed from community organizations in the Central Jakarta area," said Reonald.

The Chief of the Jakarta Metropolitan Regional Police, Inspector General Karyoto, had previously instructed his subordinates to conduct the Anti-Thug Operation to tackle thuggery activities in Jakarta and the surrounding areas. The operation lasted fifteen days, from May 9 to May 23, 2025.

Source: https://en.tempo.co/read/2008422/extortion-now-the-most-common-thuggery-crime-in-jakart