Housewife arrested for drugs

INDONESIA: A housewife was arrested carrying 1,950 ecstasy pills in her underwear at the Soekarno-Hatta International Airport in Tangerang on Friday afternoon.

This was the first drug arrest at the airport since police foiled an attempt by Brazilian Marco Archer Cardoso Moreira to smuggle 13.7 kilograms of cocaine into the country on Aug. 2. Moreira is now in police custody after being arrested in West Nusa Tenggara two weeks after he managed to escape arrest at the airport.

The head of the airport police, Comr. Sri Suari Wahyudi, said on Saturday the suspect Yuliana, 46, a resident of Jambi, was arrested at about 5:30 p.m. as she tried to board a plane for Palembang, South Sumatra.

A security guard became suspicious of Yuliana's actions, and when she passed through an X-ray machine the ecstasy pills were detected.

A quick search by the guard quickly lead to the ecstasy pills hidden in the suspect's underwear. The guard detained Yuliana and handed her over to the airport police for further questioning.

Suari refused to provide details on the status of the suspect.

Yuliana will be charged under Law No. 22/1997 on narcotics and could face the death penalty if convicted. -- JP