Police search for U.S. national

SURABAYA, East Java (Jakarta Post): East Java Police are still searching for John Bernard, a U.S. national allegedly involved in the trade of protected species of seashells.

East Java Police criminal division deputy chief Snr. Comr. Rusli Nasution said Tuesday he believed Bernard was still in Indonesia.

"The police are still investigating the case. It seems the suspect exported the seashells, which are worth billions of rupiah, from Situbondo to America," he said.

He added that the police previously had arrested a truck driver, identified only as SW, on the Gempol-Surabaya highway. Inside the truck, police found 480 boxes of shells. The truck was on its way to Tanjung Perak Port.

"SW shows us a document stating that the container was filled with handicrafts belonging to PT Niaga Segara Transindo. But when we opened the boxes in the container we found a large number of rare, protected seashells," he said.

Besides SW, the police have also detained three staff of PT Niaga Segara Transindo and declared them suspects in the case.

They have been identified as YT, IM and DN.

The suspects say that the U.S. national purchased the shells from fishermen in Situbondo. One container of shells cost Bernard Rp 500 million (approx. US$50,000) and could be sold for Rp 3 billion (US$300,000).

Rusli said the shells included the Yellow Helmet (Cossis cornuta), Melo Amphora (Melo corona amfora) and Perlized Nautilus (Nautilus pompilis). -- JP