Thai charged with heroin deal to present defense statements
Thai charged with heroin deal to present defense statements
JAKARTA (JP): Sam Lim Iaw, 50, known as Boon Tan, a Thai national being tried at the Central Jakarta District Court for alleged involvement in trafficking 29 kilograms of heroin, is scheduled to present his defense statement today.
"Boon Tan will present his defense statement on Tuesday, Jan. 3," Suriansyah of the Central Jakarta Prosecutor's Office said yesterday.
Boon Tan and two alleged accomplices, Than Tuck Yin, also known as A Tjai, a Malaysian, and Freddy A Thing, a local, were caught red handed on May 11 last year at Hotel Indonesia, Central Jakarta, attempting to sell the heroin to a man named A Hong.
The heroin was reportedly brought into the country in January from Thailand through Medan, North Sumatra, by A Tjai, who was ordered to do so by another Thai named Thamanoon Saepo. Thamanoon Saepo is still at large.
A Tjai took the heroin to Jakarta from Medan by bus. He was picked up by Boon Tan at Pulogadung inter-city bus terminal in East Jakarta. Both Boon Tan and A Tjai later took the heroin to the residence of Freddy A Ting at Jl. Patriot 29 in Bekasi.
The three kept the heroin in Freddy's house until May 11, when they carried three of the 60 packages of high-grade heroin to Hotel Indonesia to show to A Hong, who turned out to be an undercover Interpol officer.
The remaining 57 packages of heroin were confiscated at Freddy's residence.
This drug raid was the biggest heroin bust in Indonesian history. The second largest drug haul was recorded seven years earlier in Samarinda, East Kalimantan, when the police seized 17.7 kilograms of heroin of a similar grade.
Meity Yosef, the prosecutor in Boon Tan's trial, and R.A. Argasasmita, who is prosecuting A Tjai, requested that the judge punish the two defendants with death sentences last month.
During the previous trial session, the two lawyers hired by Boon Tan to represent him, Leo. S. Hakim and G. Simorangkir, told Judge R.P. Mangkudiningrat that they withdrew from the heroin case due to a quarrel with Boon Tan over differences in defense strategies.
In today's session, Boon Tan will be represented by a new lawyer. (mas)