Man caught with stash of psychotropic drugs
JAKARTA (JP): Soekarno-Hatta International Airport customs and excise officers have arrested a 43-year-old man for allegedly trying to smuggle 106,650 psychotropic pills into the country from Singapore, an official said yesterday.
The airport's customs and excise chief, Tonny Soenanto, told The Jakarta Post that Iswardas Bhagwandas Bachari, a Indonesian of Indian descent, was arrested at 8:35 a.m. on Sunday shortly after his arrival on Singapore Airlines flight number SQ-152.
According to Tonny, Bachari was arrested after police were tipped off that a drug smuggler of Indian appearance was coming in from Singapore.
"Based on that tip, we tightened security for passengers from Singapore, particularly at the x-ray machine," he said.
When Bachari put his luggage through the x-ray machine at the Terminal D arrival gate, security saw something unusual inside the bag on their monitor, Tonny explained.
"He had placed the pills deep inside another bag in the suitcase and covered them with Sari (traditional Indian garment) and jewelry.
Out of the 106,650 pills seized, 81,660 were Lorazepam and 24,990 were Chlordiazepoxide, both of which are classified as minor tranquilizers.
"These pills are considered to be psychotropic drugs and cannot be distributed without a license or consumed without a doctor's prescription," Tonny said.
The street price for the pills here is between Rp 50,000 and Rp 60,000 each.
"The drugs are believed to have originated from India," he added.
Bachari will be charged under Psychotropic Drugs Law No. 5/1997, which carries a minimum sentence of five years in prison and an Rp 50 million fine.
The suspect has been transferred to the National Police Headquarters pending further investigation.
Birds
Although many people choose drugs as the most lucrative goods to smuggle into the country, some outbound smugglers choose protected species of birds and snakes to sell to overseas buyers.
The latest attempt to smuggle protected wildlife out of Indonesia was uncovered last Tuesday when airport security apprehended a Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) attendant who was attempting to take two black cockatoos to Karachi.
The birds, worth US$1,500 each on overseas markets, had been wrapped in a dark T-shirt and placed in black bag by Khalid Azeem, 39.
On June 4, airport security also arrested a South Korean citizen, Son Seok Bin, 32, for attempting to smuggle 40 sulfur- crested cockatoos (Cacatua galerita) and four black Mambruk Raja (Goura victoria) out of the country.
The suspect was arrested as he boarded Korean International Airlines flight number KE-628 to Seoul, Tonny said.
According to the head of the airport's quarantine center Lukas A. Tonga, the local price of Mambruk is about Rp 5 million each, while sulfur-crested cockatoos can fetch between Rp 100,000 and Rp 150,000 per bird.
The Korean is being held by police and the 44 birds have been given temporary lodgings at the Safari Park in Cisarua, Bogor.
"Up to now, all of the birds are reported to be in good condition," Lukas added.
The birds are a protected species and their export and trade is forbidden under Law No.5/1990 on Natural Resources and Ecosystem Conservation.
"Besides that, the species is also regulated under Law No.16/1992 for fish, animal and plant quarantine. Violators face a maximum sentence of three years in prison and an Rp 150 million fine," Lukas said. (41/edt)