Customs hands over Ecstasy suspects to National Police
Customs hands over Ecstasy suspects to National Police
JAKARTA (JP): The Soekarno-Hatta International Airport's
Customs and Excise Office handed over yesterday two Singaporeans
arrested for smuggling 16,437 Ecstasy pills and 440 grams of
Ecstasy powder on Sunday to the National Police.
The office's chief, Nisfu Chasbullah, said his officers
arrested the suspects, Loh Kok Ban, 37, and Lim Tian Kwang, 24,
after finding drugs in two of the suspects' bags.
The suspects disembarked from Cathay Pacific flight CX-777
from Paris via Hong Kong.
"The airport's X-ray detector located the pills and the powder
in the bags. When the bags were opened, the pills and the powder
were found in chocolate plastic wrappers. The officers then
arrested the two," Nisfu said.
In a preliminary interrogation the suspects, who were salesmen
as their passports stated, said they were couriers.
The suspects said they were paid S$8,000 (US$5,565) by someone
in Singapore to get the pills and the powder in Amsterdam and
deliver it to another person in Jakarta. "But the suspects did
not want to identify the people," he said.
The Chief for Drug Affairs of the National Police, Maj. Djati
U. Saragih, said police would send the case to the Public
Prosecutors' Office as soon as the dossiers were completed.
"We found enough evidence to charge the suspects," Maj. Djati
said.
He said the suspects would be charged with violating Articles
80 and 81 of the Health Law by distributing Ecstasy.
"Although the suspects claimed to be only couriers in the
business, the facts showed they brought the pills here," Djati
said.
Airport customs and excise officials have seized 239,048 pills
and arrested dozens of suspects since March 1996.
Most of the suspects' embarkation places were in Europe,
particularly Amsterdam.
On Dec. 1, two Singaporeans were arrested at Soekarno-Hatta
International Airport for trafficking a record 70,431 Ecstasy
pills into Indonesia. They were arrested soon after disembarking
a Cathay Pacific flight from Paris to Jakarta via Hong Kong.
The suspects, identified as Khang Thek Chuan, and Yeo Chee
Kheng, bought the pills worth an estimated Rp 4.2 billion (US$1.8
million) in Brussels.
The second largest seizure was 60,000 Ecstasy pills in April.
The owner carried the pills in a bag. The bag was left at the
airport so another syndicate member, an airport worker, could
collect it later at the Lost & Found office. Four people were
arrested in connection with the case. (jun)