Pakistani national tried for selling heroin

Pakistani national tried for selling heroin

JAKARTA (JP): A 46-year-old Pakistani man was indicted at
West Jakarta District Court yesterday for selling 70 grams of
heroin at the immigration office's quarantine center.

Prosecutor Fachruddin said Muhammad Khaled Mahmood, who had
stayed at the quarantine center for almost two years for
violating immigration regulations, was arrested on Dec. 14, last
year.

"The defendant was arrested when he tried to sell the heroin
to another Pakistani, named Zaheer Ahmed," Fachruddin said.

Mahmood, an army pensioner, admitted during interrogation that
he bought the heroin from a dealer he identified only as Habib at
the Hari-Hari Supermarket near the quarantine center in
Kalideres, West Jakarta.

Ahmed, who was a police informant, met Mahmood at the
supermarket on Dec. 10 and expressed a desire to buy heroin,
Fachruddin said.

Mahmood then offered the heroin to Ahmad at US$25 per gram and
the two agreed to meet at the quarantine center on Dec. 14 to
complete the deal, he said.

Police arrested Mahmood when he took a plastic bag of heroin
from his jeans pocket and showed it to Ahmed.

Fachruddin charged Mahmood under Article 80 (1) of Law No.
22/1997 on narcotics which carries a maximum penalty of 20 years
in jail and a fine of up to Rp 1 billion (US$133,300).

Presiding judge Muhammad Arif adjourned the trial until next
week to hear witnesses' testimonies.

A quarantine officer said Mahmood was one of 100 foreigners
being held at the quarantine center awaiting deportation.

"We don't have enough funds to deport Mahmood. Many Pakistanis
are still in the quarantine center now," the officer, who asked
for anonymity, said outside the court.

He said the foreigners were not detainees so they were allowed
to go to the nearby supermarket without an escort. (jun)