Sierra Leone national arrested with heroin

Wahyoe Boediwardhana, The Jakarta Post, Denpasar, Bali

A 31-year-old Sierra Leone national was arrested on his arrival at Bali's Ngurah Rai International Airport for allegedly trying to smuggle 461.7 grams of heroin into Indonesia, customs officials said on Thursday.

The suspect, identified as Emmanuel O Ihejerika, was found with 31 capsules of heroin in his stomach, Denpasar customs and excise office head Wahyu Purnomo said.

"We asked the suspect to consume a laxative agent to induce excretion. The last capsule was discharged by his body this (Thursday) afternoon," he added.

He said Ihejerika, who had reportedly visited Bali at least five times before, was currently under the custody of the Bali Police.

The suspect had disembarked from Malaysian Airlines flight MH- 715. His itinerary showed that he had traveled to Karachi, Hong Kong and Kuala Lumpur prior to his arrival in Bali on Wednesday.

"Our officers had closely monitored the suspect since he disembarked from the plane. The agitated response of our trained dogs (to Ihejerika) strengthened our suspicion. Therefore, the officers immediately approached the suspect and started to interrogate him," Wahyu said.

Initially, the suspect claimed he was a food supplement and vitamins salesman. However, when pressed by the officers, he could not say specifically which brands he sold.

He was taken to a nearby health clinic, where an X-ray examination revealed foreign objects in his stomach.

In fact the objects were 31 capsules of heroin, each measuring five centimeters long and two centimeters in diameter and weighing around 14 grams.

It was estimated that the heroin inside the capsules had a street value of over Rp 415 million (US$48,886).

"Lately, we have tightened our surveillance of incoming foreign passengers, particularly nationals from African countries, because we consider them (to be from) a high-risk drug-smuggling region," Wahyu added.