Drug dealer gets death<\/p>\n
Multa Fidrus, The Jakarta Post, Tangerang<\/p>\n
The Tangerang district court sentenced to death a Pakistani
\nman on Wednesday for smuggling 1,050 grams of heroin from
\nPakistan into the country.<\/p>\n
Presiding judge M. Soleh Mokoginta said defendant Muhammad
\nAbdul Hafeez, 32, was proven guilty of attempting to smuggle the
\ndrug through Soekarno-Hatta International Airport on June 26.<\/p>\n
The judge said he had rejected the lawyer's argument that the
\ndefendant had been forced to bring the drug to Indonesia because
\nhe was suffering from economic difficulties.<\/p>\n
Wearing a white sports shirt and dark jeans, the defendant, a
\nfather of a 16-month-old baby, said he would follow the advice of
\nhis lawyer, Husien Tuhuteru, who insisted on appealing to a
\nhigher court.<\/p>\n
\"I accept the punishment, but let me think about my lawyer's
\nadvice on whether or not to appeal to a higher court within one
\nweek,\" Hafeez told The Jakarta Post.<\/p>\n
The defendant was arrested minutes after he had arrived by
\nPakistan Airlines flight PIA 896, which landed at the airport on
\nJune 26 this year.<\/p>\n
According to prosecutor Ferri Silalahi, customs and excise
\nofficer Donny Dumpang Harahap was suspicious, as the defendant
\nonly had hand-carried luggage with him, despite the long-haul
\nflight.<\/p>\n
Donny then told another officer, Yudi Darma Nauli, to search
\nthe defendant's blue bag. When the defendant was ordered to
\nreveal the contents of his bag, the officers found three packets
\nwrapped neatly in the folds of a jacket.<\/p>\n
The defendant said the packets contained Pakistani special
\nfood. To convince the officers, the defendant then opened one of
\nthe packets, containing popcorn-like pieces, and immediately
\ntasted two of them.<\/p>\n
When tested, however, the food was found to contain heroin.<\/p>\n
Hafeez later testified that he had bought the heroin from a
\nman named Amin Khan in Peshawar for US$1,000.<\/p>\n
Earlier this year the district court sentenced to death three
\nNigerians, a Nepalese and a Zimbabwean for drug smuggling, while
\na Malawian was given life imprisonment, also for a similar drug
\noffense in September this year.<\/p>\n
Last year, the district court passed the death sentence on
\nnine defendants, including three Indonesians.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/drug-dealer-gets-death-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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