American held for smuggling marijuana
JAKARTA (JP): An American was arrested Wednesday in Nusa Dua, Bali, for involvement in smuggling marijuana from Thailand to America for more than 10 years, police said. He was scheduled to be deported last night.
Head of National Police Detective Department Brig. Gen. Rusdihardjo said yesterday the suspect, Michael Gary Miller, had allegedly played a major role in an international narcotics syndicate.
Rusdihardjo said the suspect had been smuggling tons of marijuana from Thailand between 1979 and 1991.
The arrest was coordinated by Indonesian police with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration based in Singapore.
"Miller is scheduled to be deported today. He will be flown from Denpasar tonight to Guam (a U.S. territory) on an American airline, Continental Micronesia," Rusdihardjo said.
Indonesian police would hand over the suspect to American police on the flight, he said.
Miller, 48, was arrested on Wednesday while trying to anchor his yacht at a beach near the Nikko Hotel, Nusa Dua.
According to an arrest warrant dated April 11, issued by Idaho District Court, California, Miller was charged with violating several articles of U.S. federal law, including laws on conspiracy, money laundering, corporate crime, and fraud, Rusdihardjo said.
He said narcotics violations were usually linked to many other crimes, including money laundering.
"Miller is also suspected of committing money laundering crimes here in Indonesia. Reports say Miller had invested some of his money here, including buying stakes in a state-run bank in Bali," Rusdihardjo added.
In addition to Miller, his 20-year-old Thai girlfriend Inthiharn Jaranya and several crew members, whose nationalities were unidentified, were also arrested. Inthiharn and the crew were sailing with Miller in his yacht bearing an American flag.
Police had been watching Miller's activities in Indonesia since December last year, Rusdihardjo said.
Miller is the eleventh foreigner involved in narcotics crimes to have been extradited from Indonesia since 1984, Rusdihardjo said.
Miller was the first to be deported this year.
"The extradition was in line with article 51 of regulation number 9/1976 on the deportation of foreigners involved in drug dealing and abuse, either in or outside Indonesia," Rusdihardjo said.
Indonesia could deport foreigners to their countries of origin, regardless of whether the countries had extradition agreements with Indonesia, Rusdihardjo added.
The other 10 extradited foreigners were four Danes in 1984, an Australian in 1986, a German in 1989, and a French citizen in 1991.
The remaining three were Americans who were deported in 1981, 1991, and 1992.
Most of them were handed over at airports in Indonesia, including seven who were extradited from the Ngurah Rai Airport in Bali. (cst)