Africans nabbed for allegedly smuggling 800 grams of heroin
Africans nabbed for allegedly smuggling 800 grams of heroin
JAKARTA (JP): Jakarta police arrested two foreigners over the
weekend in connection with the alleged importation of some 800
grams of heroin, valued at more than Rp 400 million (US$181,181).
Lt. Col. Edi Darnadi S.O., of the Jakarta police's criminal
investigation directorate, told reporters yesterday the two
suspects were Ibrahim Saebi, who hails from Mali, and Mustapha
Abdu Genewu of Ghana.
Saebi was reportedly traveling on a U.S. passport, he said.
"Both were arrested on Sunday. Ibrahim was arrested at the
City Hotel in Pecenongan, Central Jakarta, while Mustapha was
apprehended at the Rolex Hotel in Pasar Baru, also in Central
Jakarta," Edi said.
"Both suspects arrived from Bangkok via Medan. They would have
been caught upon their arrival if they had arrived through
Soekarno-Hatta airport. They kept the heroin inside their shoes,"
he said. The two suspects traveled by car from Medan to Jakarta.
Edi said that both suspects are wanted men and belong to an
international syndicate covering Bangkok, Medan and Jakarta.
From their passports police concluded that they were familiar
with Jakarta. Ibrahim has traveled to and from Jakarta repeatedly
over the past five years, and Mustapha has been here frequently
during the past two years, Edi said.
The embassies of both suspects have been contacted through the
ministry of foreign affairs. Ghana has no embassy in Jakarta. Its
nearest embassy is in Tokyo.
Mustapha reportedly claimed under questioning that he was only
executing orders to bring the heroin to Jakarta but added that he
did not know to whom he had to give the drug.
Soekarno-Hatta international airport authorities arrested a
26-year-old Nepalese last year for smuggling in 103 capsules of
heroin, weighing 1.2 kilograms, concealed in his stomach.
A number of foreigners have been sentenced to life
imprisonment and death in the recent past for heroin trafficking
in Indonesia.
The Central Jakarta District Court sentenced Thai national Sae
Lim Iaw to life imprisonment in June for drug trafficking.
In June last year, the West Jakarta District Court sentenced
39-year-old Chan Tin Chong of Malaysia to death for attempting to
smuggle 429 grams of heroin into Indonesia.
In Medan last September, the North Sumatra District Court
sentenced to death two Thai nationals, Sealow Prasert, 55, and
Namsong Sirilak, 22, as well as an Indian, Ayodya Prasat Chawbey,
53, after the three were convicted of smuggling 12.19 kilograms
of heroin into the country. (01)