Smuggler flees, but leaves drugs behind

Smuggler flees, but leaves drugs behind

Multa Fidrus, The Jakarta Post, Tangerang

A Brazilian paraglider reportedly failed to smuggle in 13.7
kilograms of cocaine through Soekarno-Hatta International Airport
in Tangerang on Saturday afternoon, but did manage to escape
arrest.

His whereabouts is unknown, but customs and excise officers at
the airport suspect that Marco Archer Moreira fled to Bali.

It is the biggest smuggling attempt of cocaine in the country
this year. One gram of cocaine sells for between Rp 200,000
(US$23.5) and Rp 500,000, based on the quality.

Airport Police chief Adj. Comr. Sri Suari Wahyudi said the
suspect headed toward Terminal II E, which serves domestic Garuda
flights, after fleeing from the customs checkpoint when an
officer asked to see his passport.

"We suspect he managed to get on a plane heading to Denpasar
when he escaped our officers. So far, I haven't got any news from
Denpasar about the suspect's whereabouts," Suari said.

Moreira arrived, for the third time, on a KLM airlines flight
at 5:15 p.m. Saturday.

Bandi, a customs and excise officer, said the suspect appeared
nervous and returned into the terminal when the officer asked for
his passport.

"He looked very nervous, although nothing suspicious came up
on the screen when his bag and two paraglider bars passed through
the X-ray machine," he said.

Officers found it difficult to keep track of him inside the
airport because many passengers had just disembarked from a
Garuda airplane.

Other officers, who became curious and suspicious at the
commotion, ran the bag and bars through the X-ray machine again
but found nothing.

Eventually, they decided to cut the bars and found 19 plastic
bags of white powder, which they suspected was heroin.

After testing the substance, it was determined that it was
cocaine.

The head of the Customs and Excise Office at the airport,
Jusuf Hindarto, said his officers were still after the suspect.

If Moreira is arrested, he will be charged under Law No.
22/1997 on narcotics. If convicted, he could face the death
penalty.