Angolan sentenced to death for smuggling 1.1kg of heroin

TANGERANG (JP): Tangerang District Court sentenced on Wednesday an Angola national to death for trafficking drugs earlier in January.

Twenty-eight-year-old Thomas Daniel went on trial for smuggling 1.125 kilograms of heroin into the country in 64 capsules concealed in his stomach.

In a final hearing presided over by Judge S. Djuma, it was revealed that the defendant was arrested on Jan. 22, 2000 at the Soekarno-Hatta International Airport, minutes after he disembarked from Singapore Airlines flight number SQ 164, plying the Bangkok-Jakarta route.

"Customs and Excise officials suspected Daniel's comportment as he was anxious to leave, sweating profusely and looking pale. The officers then detained him for further drug tests and took him to the hospital," judge Djuma said.

He said Daniel was asked to eat papayas and officials later found the 64 capsules in his excrement.

Daniel eventually admitted that he was told to smuggle the heroin by a man named U. Chukwu in Bangkok and that he was promised a U.S. visa if he delivered the packages to one of the guests at Hotel Petamburan in Central Jakarta, the judge said.

The defendant was charged under Narcotics Law No. 22/1997, which carries the death penalty or a maximum life imprisonment and a fine of Rp 1 billion (US$112,360).

"Although he behaved politely and showed remorse during the trial, there are no mitigating circumstances for him as he has committed a flagrant violation of the Narcotics Law.

"Defendant Daniel contributed to a crime that ruins the generation of a country," Djuma said.

The death penalty came as a shock to Daniel as the prosecutor only demanded 15-year imprisonment and a Rp 5 million fine. He burst into tears and held his head down when his lawyer Hosain Tuheru conveyed the verdict to him.

Hosain told the court that his client was considering an appeal of the sentence.

Wednesday's death sentence was the fourth to be imposed on defendants involved in drug related cases this year by the Tangerang District Court.

No Indonesians, however, have received death sentences for similar crimes. (41/edt)