Mother Reveals in DPR Hearing That Fandi, Sea Dragon Crew Member, Suspected Boxes Contained Bombs
During a hearing at the DPR, Nirwana, mother of Fandi Ramadhan, a Sea Dragon crew member who has been sentenced to death, revealed that her son initially suspected the boxes of methamphetamine he helped load onto the ship contained bombs.
Nirwana shared this story during an audience with Commission III of the DPR on Thursday, February 26th. She was accompanied by her husband, the legal team, and senior lawyer Hotman Paris Hutapea.
“‘This isn’t right, how can the ship carry this, these boxes, this isn’t right. What if it contains bombs?’” Nirwana said during the meeting, quoting her son.
During the session, Nirwana recounted the chronology of Fandi becoming a crew member and the Sea Dragon’s initial departure from Thailand. She also revealed how Fandi’s suspicions about the boxes began during the voyage.
According to Nirwana, Fandi initially applied to become a crew member on a cargo ship in Thailand. However, after waiting for about three days in Thailand, the captain informed him that the ship would be changed from a cargo ship to a tanker carrying oil.
A few days later, Nirwana said she heard that Fandi had been arrested during a raid on the tanker in Karimun on suspicion of drug smuggling.
However, Nirwana said that her son had no knowledge that the ship was carrying drugs from the beginning. According to her, Fandi asked one of his crewmates when the captain asked him to load the boxes of methamphetamine onto the ship.
While imitating her son’s conversation, Nirwana said that Fandi had suspected the boxes being loaded onto the oil tanker.
“‘As soon as I lifted it, I felt uneasy. I said to my friend, ’This is strange, but we’re carrying oil. Aren’t you suspicious?’ ‘Why, Ndi?’ ‘This isn’t right, how can the ship carry these boxes?’” Nirwana said, quoting Fandi.
Meanwhile, according to Hotman, Fandi’s story has been acknowledged by the captain of the ship during the trial in the Batam District Court.
“And in the trial, the statement made by the mother’s son was acknowledged by the captain. In the trial, the captain and his deputy admitted that the son had asked, ‘What is this?’” Hotman said.
However, Hotman said that the captain at that time replied that the boxes contained gold and money, although he doubted the captain’s statement. According to Hotman, with methamphetamine worth IDR 4 trillion, it is impossible for the captain not to know or be aware of the goods he was carrying.
“So how is it possible that with IDR 4 trillion worth of goods, he didn’t know and was trusted by the ship’s owner,” Hotman said.
(thr/gil)