;JP;ABDUL;CD;
\nANPAj..r..
\nAirport-cocaine-drug
\nPlane passengers suspected of smuggling cocaine
\nJP\/2\/drug<\/p>\n
Plane passenger suspected in cocaine smuggling attempt<\/p>\n
Abdul Khalik
\nThe Jakarta Post\/Jakarta<\/p>\n
The threat of a death sentence does not seem to have deterred
\ntraffickers from trying to smuggle drugs into the country.<\/p>\n
Customs and excise officials at Soekarno-Hatta International
\nAirport announced on Wednesday they had seized one kilogram of
\ncocaine with a street value of Rp 1 billion (US$105,000) from a
\nforeign passenger plane last week.<\/p>\n
The head of the customs and excise office at the airport,
\nNofrial, said a crew member of a KLM airplane that flew to
\nJakarta last week from Amsterdam, with a stopover in Kuala
\nLumpur, had handed over a bag left by a passenger beneath seat
\n18A.<\/p>\n
"We opened the bag and found 84 capsules of cocaine with a
\ntotal value of over Rp 1 billion. We cooperated with the police
\nto check the plane and in the search for the passenger who sat in
\nseat 18A," Nofrial said during a press conference in Cengkareng,
\nBanten province.<\/p>\n
He said the authorities had identified the passengers who
\noccupied seats 18A, 18B and 18C as Sutikno, 42, Servean Jean
\nMichel, 39, and Yahya Sabira Marisa, 38, respectively. The
\nauthorities are working on the suspicion that one of these
\npassengers may be the owner of the bag.<\/p>\n
Sutikno and Yahya are both Indonesians while Jean Michel is a
\nFrench national, Nofrial said.<\/p>\n
"We managed to detain Jean Michel not long after the discovery
\nof the bag. We questioned him for hours before letting him go. We
\nfound no evidence, including fingerprints or traces of cocaine,
\nlinking him to the bag," he said.<\/p>\n
Adj. Comr. I Gede Dewa Agung of the Tangerang Police said the
\nauthorities were still trying to locate Sutikno and Yahya.<\/p>\n
"We believe they are still in Indonesia ... we are monitoring
\nevery flight leaving the country," he said.<\/p>\n
National Narcotics Agency (BNN) chief Comr. Gen. Sutanto, who
\nalso attended the press conference, said leaving drugs under a
\nplane seat, apparently to be picked up by somebody else, was a
\nnew tactic here.<\/p>\n
"We believe somebody else was supposed to pick up the bag. But
\nbecause it was found, they just disappeared. It is a new method
\nto avoid our tight security arrangements," Sutanto said.<\/p>\n
According to Law No. 22\/1997 on narcotics, anyone found in
\npossession of at least a kilogram of cocaine can face the death
\npenalty if convicted.<\/p>\n
Earlier, officers from the BNN and airport officials arrested
\na foreign national identified as Marcus Aijal, alias Max, and
\nconfiscated 34,801 ecstasy pills from the suspect.<\/p>\n
Dozens of drug traffickers, mostly foreign nationals, have
\nbeen sentenced to death by the Tangerang District Court in Banten
\nfor smuggling heroin and other drugs into the country.<\/p>\n
"We have become one of the main destinations for international
\ndrug syndicates because of our vast market," Sutanto said.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/jpabdulcd-1447899208",
"image": ""
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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