Trafficker gets three years jail<\/p>\n
TANGERANG, West Java (JP): The Tangerang District Court
\nsentenced a man to three years in jail yesterday for smuggling
\nmore than 60,000 Ecstasy pills from the Netherlands into
\nIndonesia.<\/p>\n
Presiding Judge Yustinar found Ridwan Chaniago, 45, guilty of
\ntrying to smuggle and peddle the pills, which were not registered
\nwith the Ministry of Health. The defendant was also fined Rp 3
\nmillion for the offense.<\/p>\n
The sentence and fine were exactly what the prosecutor
\ndemanded.<\/p>\n
The defendant was convicted of violating the 1992 Law on
\nHealth, specifically Articles 80 (4b) and 40 (1), which prohibit
\nthe production and distribution of drugs that are not registered
\nwith the Ministry of Health.<\/p>\n
Such an offense carries a maximum penalty of 15 years
\nimprisonment and a Rp 300 million fine.<\/p>\n
The court found that Chaniago cooperated with three
\naccomplices -- JAI, RS and OS (a woman)-- in the smuggling last
\nApril. The other three were tried separately in the same court.<\/p>\n
The indictment said RS and OS assigned Chaniago go to the
\nNetherlands to buy Ecstasy pills and bring them into Indonesia.
\nRC was promised a profit of Rp 1,500 per pill for his services.<\/p>\n
The pills were packed in four boxes and stuffed into a
\nsuitcase, traveled to Indonesia on Garuda flight GA 089055, the
\nindictment said.<\/p>\n
JAI, an employee of Garuda Indonesia, was supposed to wait for
\nthe pills when they arrived at the airport. But JAI did not pick
\nup the pills because he was not on duty that day, and asked RS
\nand OS to get the suitcase instead. When RS and OS tried to claim
\nthe suitcase, it was already at the Lost and Found counter.<\/p>\n
Police arrested the four at Ibis Hotel Arcadia in Central
\nJakarta nine months ago.<\/p>\n
On Tuesday, the Central Jakarta District Court handed down a
\ntwenty-month prison term and a Rp 2 million (US$850) fine to a
\nDutchman for the trafficking and possession of nearly 5,000
\nEcstasy pills.<\/p>\n
Presiding Judge Nurhayati said she found Koehoorn Laurens
\nHenrikus, 51, guilty of holding one pill in his hand as he was
\nabout to sell Ecstasy to a would-be buyer in a hotel on Jl. MH
\nThamrin.<\/p>\n
\"He was also carrying 499 in the pocket of his trousers,\" the
\njudge said.<\/p>\n
Henrikus kept 500 pills in his Kijang car and almost 4,000
\npills in his office in Taman Anggrek, West Jakarta.<\/p>\n
The defendant had also been charged with producing the pills,
\nbut was acquitted on this count.<\/p>\n
Henrikus, a consultant in a local cement company, had claimed
\nin his defense that he did not know Ecstasy was banned in
\nIndonesia.<\/p>\n
The judge was not entertained by this argument. \"It is
\nunacceptable that a University graduate claimed his ignorance of
\nEcstasy's illegality,\" she said.<\/p>\n
But the judge took into account that the defendant was
\ncooperative during the police and prosecutors investigations and
\nduring the court cross-examination.<\/p>\n
\"The defendant's punishment should be lightened,\" she said.<\/p>\n
Even still, the defendant complained that the verdict was not
\nfair. Ecstasy defendants carrying more pills had been sentenced
\nto less than one year, he said.<\/p>\n
According to the law, Ecstasy is not a narcotic. The 1976
\nAnti-Narcotic Law, which carries a maximum penalty of death, does
\nnot include them.<\/p>\n
The House of Representatives is deliberating a government-
\nsponsored bill on psychotropic drugs which will give police more
\npower to deal with the Ecstasy menace. (27\/07)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/trafficker-gets-three-years-jail-1447893297",
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