Thai woman may get jail term for heroin smuggling

TANGERANG (JP): A prosecutor demanded on Tuesday that the Tangerang District Court sentence 29-year-old Khanchana Thiangtum to 15 years in jail and order the Thai woman to pay a Rp 150 million (US$21,428) fine for her alleged attempt to smuggle pure heroin into Indonesia last August.

Prosecutor Supriati told a hearing at the district court that Khanchana was arrested with 1.75 kilograms of heroin at the arrivals gate of Sukarno-Hatta International Airport on Aug. 31 1999.

"The defendant just got off the TG-433 flight from Bangkok to Jakarta. At the check point Khanchana was anxious to leave and walked back and forth toward the officials.

"The officers became suspicious and put on an X-ray check on the defendant's blue bag which turned out to be filled with heroin," Supriati said.

The drug was taken to the police laboratory and the result issued on Sept. 30 last year showed that it was pure heroin, she said.

Narcotics Law No. 22/1997 carries the death penalty or a maximum of life imprisonment and a fine of Rp 1 billion for organized drug-related felonies, while it imposes a maximum of 15 years imprisonment and a Rp 150 million fine for individuals charged in drug cases.

The trial was adjourned until March 21 when the court will hear the defendant's response.

In a separate courtroom of the Tangerang District Court, a prosecutor demanded the judges sentence defendant Rudi Bin Azhari, 25, a local of Manis Jaya subdistrict in Jatiuwung, to 14 years in prison and order the defendant to pay a Rp 15 million fine for drug dealing.

Prosecutor Mursidi said in a hearing on Tuesday that Rudi was distributing one kilogram of marijuana when he was arrested at his house with a friend named Iyan on Nov. 29 last year.

"He was packing the marijuana which was to be sold for Rp 5,000 per envelope," Mursidi said, adding that Iyan escaped the police raid through the back door.

The Tangerang District Court sentenced four Nepalese nationals to death for drug trafficking in January and February this year.

The two Nepalese, identified as Til Bahadur Bhandari, 24, and Bahadur Gurung, 32, went on trial for smuggling 1.764 kilograms of heroin in 204 capsules which they had swallowed.

The other two, Nar Bahadur Tamang, 59, and Bala Tamang, 30, were also tried for smuggling 554 grams of heroin into the country in July last year.

No Indonesians, however, have received the death sentence for similar felonies. (41/edt)