Togolese caught with 8.6kg of heroin

JAKARTA (JP): Customs officers at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport have arrested a 30-year-old Togolese for allegedly smuggling 8.6 kilograms of first-grade opium alkaloid into the country inside a 21-inch television set, an official said yesterday.

Head of the custom and excise services unit Conny Sunanto said Wednesday that the suspect, identified only as KIS, was detained upon his arrival on Thai Airways flight TG-413 from Bangkok on Saturday afternoon.

The heroin, which has a street value of Rp 10 billion (US$100,000), is the largest shipment intercepted by the authorities this year.

According to Sunanto, customs officers were not at first suspicious of KIS until their specially-trained sniffer dogs approached the man and began to bark furiously.

They took him aside for questioning and then later detained him.

"The suspect was unable to turn the television set on when asked to during questioning," he added.

The officers later found the narcotics carefully wrapped in plastic bags and strapped inside the television set, he said.

During interrogation the suspect admitted that he had thought security at the airport was lax and that he would be able to enter the country unchallenged.

The suspect has been handed over to the National Police, who have now taken responsibility for the case, Sunanto said.

Three drug smugglers have been arrested at the airport this month. On May 9 a Liberian and a Gambian were caught attempting to bring 765 grams of heroin into the country, Sunanto said. The heroin was packed into 55 capsules, he added.

The two also arrived in Indonesia from Bangkok, he said.

"The drugs had been hidden in a number of different places, such as in their shorts, wallets and sandals," he explained.

Last year, customs officers at the airport seized 63,481 Ecstasy pills, 4.1 kilograms of shabu-shabu (an amphetamine derivative), 5.8 kg of heroin and 3 kg of hashish. (41/edt)