Nepalese arrested carrying heroin

TANGERANG (JP): Customs and excise officers at Soekarno-Hatta airport have foiled another illegal drug smuggling attempt, office head Yusuf Indarto announced on Tuesday.

Yusuf said a Nepalese national, Indra Bahadur Tamang, was arrested at Terminal D in the airport, upon arrival from Singapore on Saturday at 9 a.m.. He said that customs and excise officers found 900 grams of heroin hidden inside the man's stomach.

The man placed heroin powder in 105 capsules which he then swallowed in order to prevent detectors from locating the drugs.

His restlessness, however, raised suspicion among customs officers, who then took him to the airport's hospital for an X- ray. The examination revealed strange objects in his digestive system.

It took the suspect nine hours to discharge all of the capsules, Yusuf said.

The Nepalese man could face the death sentence or a maximum 20 years imprisonment and Rp 1 billion fine for violating the 1997 narcotics law.

Earlier this month, customs and excise officers at the airport uncovered an attempted trafficking of 3.6 kilograms of heroin by a Nigerian. (41)