New task force foils drug smuggling attempts

Multa Fidrus, The Jakarta Post/Tangerang

The so-named Interdiction Task Force has apparently staved off the smuggling of 300 grams of heroin, 23 grams of cocaine and 2,342 ecstasy pills through Soekarno-Hatta International Airport over the last three months.

The airport's customs and excise chief Nofrial said on Wednesday that the task force had apprehended four suspects during that period.

In August, Indian Gurdip Singh, 37, was arrested with 300 grams of heroin on his personage as he was about to board a flight to Surabaya. Singh is now facing trial at the Tangerang District Court.

The investigation led to the arrest of suspected suppliers Zulfikar Ali, who is reportedly a Pakistani national, and his Indonesian girl friend, Dinong Pratidina on Nov. 22 in Ciampea, Bogor, West Java.

"We're still tracing the movements of another suspect, based on information from the detained suspects," Nofrial said.

The task force is also investigating the discovery of two large capsules containing 23 grams of cocaine, slipped in between the panels of an airplane door on Oct. 29. The plane was parked to undergo maintenance service in a hangar managed by PT GMF.

The task force, which comprises customs, immigration and security officers, also arrested Susilo Onko Mulyo, 45, for carrying 2,342 ecstasy pills on Nov. 24, as he was about to fly to Denpasar, Bali.

National Narcotics Body chief Makbul Padmanagara has hailed the task force's work.

"It's clear that international drug trafficking syndicates have changed the way in which they operate by trying to smuggle drugs via domestic flight routes, not international routes like the trend before 2004," he said.