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)