Thai woman tried for heroin

TANGERANG (JP): A Thai woman broke down at Tangerang District Court here on Tuesday during her indictment for trafficking 4.25 kilograms of heroin concealed in her luggage.

Wearing a black dress and brown pants, Suphaporn Phanluang alias Nang began sobbing before presiding judge Jesminar Idrus opened the trial.

Prosecutor Rustam Nawawi said the 32-year-old defendant arrived at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport on flight TG 433 from Bangkok on Feb. 17.

"The defendant was arrested by immigration officers after her bag failed to pass a X-ray device at terminal D of the airport," Rustam said.

The officers found the bag contained heroin after piercing it with a special needle, he said.

Examination by the National Police Forensic Laboratory also proved the contents of the bag were pure heroin, the prosecutor said.

Rustam said that Nang was ordered by a man, identified as Peko, to deliver the bag to Jakarta.

He said Peko told Nang that a woman, identified as Yanti, would pick up the bag at the airport. Yanti is still at large.

He said the defendant was charged under the Law No. 22/1997 on narcotics. The law carries a maximum penalty of death for a conviction for heroin trafficking.

Nang, through her interpreter from the Embassy of Thailand Ibrahim Afandi, said she was a farmer but worked at a nightclub.

The mother of two said that she was forced to work at the nightclub to earn additional income to support her children and mother.

She said she became acquainted with Peko in the nightclub and he later became her boyfriend. (41/jun)