Three held for possession of 20,000 Ecstasy pills

JAKARTA (JP): Customs and excise officers at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport yesterday arrested two Singaporeans and an Irishman for smuggling over 20,000 Ecstasy pills from Bangkok.

The chief of Airport customs, Nisfu Hasbulla, said the smuggling attempt was unusual.

"Unlike previous Ecstasy smugglers who mostly came from the Netherlands, the three flew from Bangkok with Thai Airways International via Singapore," Nisfu was quoted by Antara news agency as saying.

The suspects put the pills in small bags and wound them around their bodies. The two Singaporeans were carrying about 6,000 pills each and the Irishman was carrying 8,600 pills, he said.

Airport customs searched the Ecstasy smugglers after receiving information from the National Police Headquarters, the Armed Forces Intelligence Agency (BIA) and airport immigration.

The names of the alleged smugglers have not been released.

This is the sixth successful Ecstasy raid by airport customs and excise officers in the last five months.

On March 26, a local man identified as Piong Siong was arrested at the airport parking lot in possession of 711 pills.

On March 27, Elisabeth Lusye Wongkar was arrested with 9,024 Ecstasy pills in her bag when disembarking from a Lufthansa plane from Frankfurt, Germany, which flew via Singapore.

In April two Dutch people were arrested on similar charges. A Dutch woman was arrested for smuggling 11,370 Ecstasy pills in what was said to be the biggest single-raid seizure ever.

On April 9, a Dutchman was arrested for carrying 3,900 Ecstasy pills in his shoes.

Another Dutchman was arrested in a five-star Jakarta hotel for trying to sell 1,000 pills to an undercover policeman.

Indonesian law enforcers find it hard to control the circulation of Ecstasy in the capital.

Ecstasy, also known as MDMA, is popular among young Indonesian adults attending "raves" -- big dance parties.

The illegal drug is said to be available at some discotheques and nightspots in Jakarta for between Rp 60,000 and Rp 200,000 a pill. (sur)