Nepalese tried for smuggling heroin

Nepalese tried for smuggling heroin

JAKARTA (JP): A 27-year-old Nepalese man, identified only as Dev, is being tried at the Central Jakarta District Court on charges of smuggling 103 capsules of heroin in his stomach from Thailand.

Prosecutor Uri Hasan Basri said at the trial, which was led by Judge Atjo Darsono, that the defendant swallowed all the capsules at a hotel in Bangkok before flying to Jakarta on Sept. 28, 1994.

A capsule may have been ruptured as Dev was seen staggering as he disembarked from the plane at the Soekarno-Hatta airport. He later collapsed near the departure hall exit.

He was then taken to the Cipto Mangunkusumo Hospital for treatment when airport authorities suspected he was experiencing a heart attack.

Police were then informed that the urine sample of the Nepalese contained traces of heroin and an X-ray showed a number of mysterious "bubbles" inside his abdomen.

The "bubbles" were then taken out during two different procedures. After an enema failed to help discharge the cylinders, his stomach was pumped.

He smuggled the capsules, weighing a total of 1.2 kilograms, for a Pakistani man, Khan Said, who promised to give the defendant US$700 to US$1,000 if he managed to bring the goods to Jakarta. Khan Said is still at large. (hhr)