S. American drug syndicate operating here: suspect

Muninggar Sri Saraswati, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

A Brazilian paraglider arrested on charges of drug smuggling confessed that he worked for a South American drug syndicate, and said that one of his accomplices was still on loose after successfully smuggling cocaine into the country.

National Narcotics Agency (BNN) director Comr. Gen. Togar Sianipar told a press conference on Wednesday that Marco Archer Cardoso Moreira had said his unidentified accomplice had earlier smuggled 10 kilograms of cocaine into Indonesia.

"We cannot give you the details, but another courier has entered the country," Togar said without elaborating.

Togar would only say that officers from the relevant agencies were searching for the second suspect.

Moreira said in his confession that he was ordered by a Peruvian to bring the cocaine into Indonesia for US$70,000 and a return ticket.

Indonesia is already widely known to be a transit point and destination for Africa-based drugs syndicates.

"He was told to give them to a recipient in Bali," Togar said.

The cocaine, worth a total of Rp 30 billion (US$3.53 million), was destined for the Indonesian market and other countries.

Moreira, 41, a pilot and a Brazilian national paragliding athlete, was arrested on Sunday at his accomplice's house in Banyuaji, Sumbawa island, West Nusa Tenggara.

He escaped arrest on Aug. 2 upon his arrival at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport. Customs and excise officers discovered 13.7 kilograms of cocaine in 19 plastic bags concealed in his paraglider bars.

Moreira, who attended the press conference in handcuffs, admitted that he had visited Indonesia several times. The resident of Copacabana in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, even rented a house in Bali.

He claimed that this was his first attempt to smuggle drugs into Indonesia.

Togar said that Indonesia had become a major transit point and a lucrative market for the international drugs trade. He revealed that last year, a total of 303 foreigners had been arrested for attempted drug smuggling.

"Most of them are from Africa," he said.

International syndicates involving African smugglers are known to be operating in Indonesia. Most of them smuggle shabu-shabu (crystal methamphetamine).

Although Indonesia has identified a number of Latin American countries as being "high-risk" countries for drug smuggling, the presence of a drugs syndicate from that continent here was not widely suspected.

Indonesia has strict laws against drug trafficking.