Foreign beggars netted at Soekarno-Hatta

airport
Multa Fidrus, The Jakarta Post, Tangerang | Thu, 06/03/2010 3:34
PM | Headlines

Security officers at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport have

arrested at least seven beggars who hail from China over the past
two months, for begging for money from Chinese people at the
airport’s terminal.

“The beggars were arrested by the security officers at different

times and places at the airport,” airport executive general manager
Haryanto said at his office Thursday.

He said three of the Chinese beggars were netted in April and four
others were detained last month. All of them had been spotted
begging for money from Chinese people at Terminal II, which is
for international departures and arrivals.

“In their operation, the beggars pretend to have run out of money
to buy plane tickets to return to China and they all speak
Mandarin,” he said.

However, Haryanto did not mention the identities of the beggars

on the grounds of investigation secrecy.

“We believe that the number of foreign beggars operating at the

airport might be more than seven,” he said, adding that the beggars
had been handed over to Immigration officers at the airport for
questioning.