Thai woman drug smuggler nabbed at airport
Multa Fidrus, The Jakarta Post, Tangerang
Customs and excise officials at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport have managed to foil an attempt to smuggle 400 grams of heroin contained in 45 capsules that had been swallowed by a Thai woman.
The airport's customs and excise chief, Jusuf Indarto, told reporters on Monday that the suspect, named as Bunyong Khaosa Ard, a 44-year-old Thai housewife, had tried to smuggle the heroin into the country on Saturday afternoon.
In her statement, the suspect also fingered her contacts here, which led custom's officers and police to arrest Juan Peter Kelle, alias Obina, a 27-year-old Nigerian, at a hotel in Slipi, West Jakarta.
Ard arrived at the airport's Terminal D at 2 p.m. on Saturday on board a Thai Airways TG-433 plane.
Officers became suspicious when they saw the suspect, who appeared nervous and confused, and was perspiring heavily.
She was then asked to undergo a scan in an examination room, the results of which showed foreign objects in her stomach.
Ard was then given special medicine, and three hours later she expelled the 45 capsules in her feces. A Nachotest examination confirmed that the capsules were filled with heroin.
She testified that she had been told to deliver the drugs to Kelle. Escorted by customs officers and police, she went to the hotel to meet him. When he appeared, the police immediately arrested him.
Ard said she had obtained the drugs from another Nigerian man, whom she had become acquainted with last month.
Customs and Excise Director General Permana Agung, who was also present at the airport, said the suspect along with the evidence would soon be submitted to National Police Headquarters for further investigation.
He said the suspect had violated Article 82 of Law No. 22/1997, which carries the death penalty.
Another Thai woman, Nonthanam M. Saichon, was sentenced to death by the Tangerang District Court for attempting to smuggle 650 grams of heroin from Bangkok into the country last September.