Three foreigners held for 1.7 kg heroin haul
JAKARTA (JP): Three foreigners have been arrested for alleged involvement in smuggling 1.7 kilograms of high-grade heroin into the country from Thailand, a senior officer said yesterday.
National Police spokesman Maj. Gen. Trimada Dani said the suspects were a Thai, Liberian and Nigerian.
The three were identified as Laor Treekhem, 34, John Brown, 22, and Melvin Chiguzie, 24, respectively. Treekhem was allegedly a female courier for a heroin syndicate, he said.
According to Trimada, the three were apprehended Wednesday in a room of a small hotel in Tanah Abang, Central Jakarta.
"They were arrested when the two male suspects were about to receive the heroin from the Thai woman," said Trimada.
According to National Police director of the narcotics and dangerous substances unit, Col. Wilhelmus Laturette, one kilogram of high-grade heroin had a street value of about US$150,000 in some foreign countries.
Laturette said the police and Soekarno-Hatta International Airport customs officials had been tipped off about Wednesday's deal by an overseas agent.
Based on the information, the police and customs officers decide to arrest the suspects in the middle of the transaction, he said.
"We just let the suspects go ahead with their plan while we were watching from a distance," he said.
According to Laturette, airport officials let Treekhem pass through customs upon arrival at 6:50 p.m. Wednesday on board a Thai Airline plane from Bangkok.
Treekhem, who entered Indonesia on a tourist visa, allegedly carried the heroin inside her handbag. The heroin showed up on a customs X-ray, he said.
"The woman admitted later during interrogation that she had twice succeeded in smuggling heroin into this country, also from Bangkok, in the last four months," said Laturette.
The woman, however, refused to say how much heroin she smuggled into the country the first time, he said.
Treekhem admitted to having received about US$1,000 for the first delivery she made in August and $1,200 for the second delivery just two weeks ago.
"She said she was supposed to be paid about $2,000 if she succeeded this time," Laturette said.
After leaving the airport, Treekhem, who was followed by undercover detectives, headed straight to the Petamburan Hotel and checked in to room 214, he said.
According to the police, the hotel is popular among foreign drug syndicate members.
During police questioning, Treekhem said she had been ordered by her boss in Bangkok to wait in the room for two men who would pick up the heroin, said Laturette.
The police arrested the three suspects in the room at about 10 p.m. the same day, he said.
Like many drug dealers, Treekhem and the two other suspects told police investigators that they had never met each other before, he said. (cst)