Sierra Leone national arrested with heroin

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.