Drug mule nabbed at airport
Drug mule nabbed at airport
Multa Fidrus, Tangerang
A joint team of police and customs and excise officers foiled an
attempt to smuggle a kilogram of shabu-shabu (crystal
metamphetamine) onto a flight to Medan, North Sumatra, at the
Soekarno-Hatta International Airport. The team also arrested a
suspect and seized the drugs as evidence.
The airport customs and excise chief Novrial told a press
conference on Wednesday that the suspect was identified as HN, a
resident of Medan.
"We can't announce the suspect's complete identity as the case
is still being investigated," he said.
The suspect passing a security check before flying to Medan on
June 10 at 5:10 p.m.
"When he passed the security check point, the metal detector
made a noise. Security officers stopped him and searched his
pockets, but they only found his cellular phone," Novrial said.
The officers became suspicious as the suspect looked panicky
and they kept searching until they found eight plastic bags
strapped to his body.
The plastic bags contained one kilogram of shabu-shabu, with a
street value of around Rp 300 million (US$31,915).
Airport Police chief Adj. Sr. Comr. Firman Santyabudi surmised
that the suspect was a member of a drug trafficking syndicate
that frequently uses the Jakarta-Medan-Malaysia route.
"We already interrogated the suspect, but he consistently
claims that he forgot or he does not know. In his latest
statement, he admitted that he received the drugs from Acasia
Hotel in Central Jakarta," he said.
Police will charge HN with violating Article 59 and 72 of Law
No. 5/1997 on psychotropics. If convicted, he will receive a
maximum sentence of 20 years imprisonment and a Rp 750 million
fine.
"State losses from drug smuggling cannot be estimated because
drugs will destroy the young generation and increase social
unrest and criminality," Firman said.
It was the second drug smuggling attempt foiled at the airport
this year. In May, security officers foiled an attempt to smuggle
20,800 ecstasy pills from Jakarta to Australia.