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.