Nepalese faces 20 years in jail

TANGERANG (JP): Prosecutor Situmorang asked the Tangerang District Court yesterday to give Yam Bahadur Phagani of Nepal a 20-year jail term and fine him Rp 50 million (US$18,867) for attempting to smuggle hashish into Indonesia.

Situmorang said that the defendant was arrested on April 5, 1997 at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport after flying from Bangkok.

Customs inspection officials arrested the defendant after being alerted by his suspicious behavior, the prosecutor said.

A body search revealed that the defendant had 2.9 kg of hashish -- packaged into seven bars -- strapped to his waist, groin and hidden in his shoes.

The defendant, according to Situmorang, confessed that he transported the hashish on the request of friends in China. He intended to hand over the drug to two people, identified as Jimmy and Thomas, in Jakarta. (41/hhr)