20 years in jail sought for Indian drug courier

Multa Fidrus, The Jakarta Post, Tangerang

Prosecutors demanded on Monday that the Tangerang District Court sentence an Indian citizen to 20 years in prison and fine him Rp 50 million (US$5,556) for attempting to transport 300 grams of heroin through Soekarno-Hatta International Airport last August.

Prosecutor R. Vidiyanto told the court that Gurdip Singh, 37, was guilty of possession and that there were no mitigating circumstances to warrant a lighter sentence.

He said that Singh was due to board a flight to Surabaya when security officers detected three plastic bags containing the drug strapped to his body.

The prosecutor charged him with violating Article 82 of Law No. 22/1997 on psychotropic substances, which carries a maximum punishment of death.

According to the prosecutor, the defendant claimed he obtained the drug from a man called Zulfikar Ali at Arion Plaza in East Jakarta and was asked to deliver the drug to a man called Toni in Malang, East Java. Ali reportedly promised him $2,000 to hand the heroin to Toni, who is still at large.

The investigation led to the arrest of Zulfikar Ali, who is reportedly a Pakistani national, as well as his Indonesian partner, Dinong Pratidina, in Ciampea, Bogor, West Java, on Nov. 22.