Two Nepalese caught with heroin
Two Nepalese caught with heroin
JAKARTA (JP): Two Nepalese nationals have been arrested with
365 grams of heroin inside their stomachs, a police officer said
over the weekend.
The officer, who asked for anonymity, said on Saturday that
the suspects, Bala Tamang and Marbahadur Tamang, were handcuffed
shortly after they disembarked a Thai Airways from Bangkok at the
Soekarno-Hatta International Airport here on Friday.
The officer, however, gave no explanation on how the airport
customs officials detected the 73 heroin-filled capsules
swallowed by the two foreigners.
Airport police rushed the two to the police-run Soekanto
Hospital in East Jakarta to collect the capsules, estimated to
have a total street value of Rp 146 million (US$19,500), and
information on their operation and syndicates.
Tonny Sunanto of the airport said on Sunday that airport
authorities would reveal details of the arrest only on Monday.
Chief of National Police narcotics detectives, Col. Wilhelmus
Laturette, confirmed the arrests and said the two Nepaleses were
still being treated at the police hospital.
"We'll only start questioning the two on Monday," Wilhelmus
told The Jakarta Post.
The drug from the foreigners' stomachs have been seized as
evidence in the case.
Officer Wilhelmus said that the two suspects were still in a
healthy condition and, during Monday's questioning session, were
expected to help police uncover an international heroin syndicate
allegedly operating in the country.
Such a technique has been popular among foreign drug
traffickers, particularly those from Africa, over the past few
years, making it difficult for police and other related
institutions, including the airport's customs officials, to spot
traffickers.
This year alone, the city has witnessed at least four similar
cases.
In three of the previous cases, all the traffickers died
because the capsules burst inside their digestive system.
In May, a 37-year old Swazi, identified as Chinedu Donsin
Ochia, was found dead in a hotel in Central Jakarta. After an
autopsy, forensic experts found 53 heroin-filled capsules inside
his digestive system.
A few days later, a Liberian was found in a comatose state in
his room in Pasar Baru, Central Jakarta.
When he died two days later, heroin-filled capsules weighing a
total of 875 grams were found inside his stomach.
A Zimbabwean national, Mohd. Mpu Malelo, had an autopsy
performed on him after he was found dead in a hotel room in
Central Jakarta recently.
In the postmortem examination, forensic experts found 18
capsules, one of which had split open and caused his death. The
capsules had a total weight of 540 grams, 360 grams of which was
first-grade heroin. (emf/bsr)