Two caught in record drug haul
JAKARTA (JP): Customs officers at the Soekarno-Hatta International Airport have arrested two Singaporeans for smuggling a record 70,431 Ecstasy pills into Indonesia.
Director of Prevention and Investigation at the Director General of Customs and Excise, Thomas Sugijata, told The Jakarta Post yesterday the two were apprehended on Sunday evening after disembarked Cathay Pacific flight number 777 from Paris via Hong Kong.
The two are identified as Khang Teck Chuan, 41, and Yeo Chee Keng, 28.
During interrogation, Teng said he is a contractor and Chuan a businessman in their country.
According to Thomas, the pills, which have an estimated price of at least Rp 4.2 billion (US$1.8 million) through illicit transactions here, were packed in three plastic bags kept in camouflaged children toys boxes.
"Some of the pills were mixed with peppermints," he said.
Some others were covered with carbon papers, Thomas added.
After an X-Ray detector located the pills, customs officers opened the boxes and questioned the owners in an interrogation room.
"This is the largest haul we've ever made, so far, after the seizure of 60,000 Ecstasy pills in the airport in April," Thomas said.
During interrogation at the airport customs, Chuan and Keng said the pills were ordered by members of an Ecstasy drug traffickers syndicate, who they met several times in discotheques overseas.
They said they are regular visitors of famous discotheques in Paris, Singapore and Bangkok.
According to the two, they brought the drugs since they departed Paris on Nov. 30 until they arrived at 4:46 p.m. Sunday.
Another airport source said that the pills were purchased from Belgium capital of Brussels.
The two suspects, who are members of a large-scale drug ring syndicate in Asia, were awaited by their local member at the airport, said the source.
Chuan and Keng are now under anti-narcotics police detention, waiting for the completion of the dossiers to stand trial.
Since the Ecstasy pills have become popular among youngsters here, the airport Customs and Excise have made a remarkable record in confiscating pills tried to be smuggled by drug traffickers.
A total of 239,048 pills have been seized along with dozens of suspects by the airport officers since March 1996, Thomas said.
Most of the embarkation place of the suspects were European countries, particularly Amsterdam.
The second largest seizure of 60,000 Ecstasy pills in April were kept by the owner in a bag but was left behind in order to allow his other syndicate member, who was a worker at the airport, to take it later at the Lost & Found office.
Thanks to the police support, all of the four members, including a wife of a movie actor, Barry Prima, were arrested. They are now waiting for their punishment this week at the Tangerang court. (bsr)