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)