Police ground Brazilian paraglider for drugs
Multa Fidrus and Muninggar Sri Saraswati, The Jakarta Post, Tangerang/Jakarta
Brazilian Marco Archer Cardoso Moreira, who fled from the customs area at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport and left behind 13.7 kilograms of cocaine hidden in the disassembled frame of his paraglider, has been arrested on Sunday after 16 days on the run.
National Police spokesman Sr. Comr. Zainuri Lubis confirmed on Tuesday that Moreira had been arrested in Banyuaji, Sumbawa island, West Nusa Tenggara, by a joint team comprising Tangerang and West Nusa Tenggara Police.
Moreira is expected to be transferred to Tangerang later this week.
An officer with the Sumbawa police also confirmed Moreira's arrest, and said that Moreira was arrested along with a local friend. He declined to provide further details.
Officials from the National Narcotics Agency (BNN) have scheduled to hold a press conference on Wednesday morning on the arrest of Moreira.
Head of customs and excise at Soekarno-Hatta airport Jusuf Indarto said the police, the immigration office and the customs and excise office had coordinated their efforts to bring about the successful arrest of the Brazilian athlete.
All three had put Moreira on their respective wanted lists soon after he escaped arrest.
Moreira fled upon his arrival aboard a KLM flight on the afternoon of Aug. 2, when customs and excise officers asked him for his passport as his seven bags and the disassembled paraglider passed through the X-ray machine. Instead of producing his passport, Moreira turned and ran back into the terminal.
Although officers gave chase, they lost Moreira in the crowd of passengers who had just disembarked from a Garuda flight.
Prompted by the Brazilian's suspicious behavior, customs officers inspected his abandoned luggage and found 19 plastic bags of white powder concealed in the paraglider frame. The white powder was later identified as cocaine.
Security authorities believe that Moreira is a courier of an international drug syndicate.
Moreira will be charged under Law No. 22/1997 on narcotics, which carries a maximum death penalty.
District Courts across the country, particularly in Tangerang, have been handing down harsh sentences against drug traffickers. Dozens of convicts, most of whom are foreigners, are on death row for drug dealing and smuggling.
However, the tough sentences do not seem to be acting as a deterrent to drug smugglers. Last month, Tangerang customs and excise officers reportedly arrested a 20-year-old Dutch woman for trying to smuggle 4,862 ecstasy pills into the country.