Three held for possession of 20,000 Ecstasy pills
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)