Woman arrested with Rp1.8b of Ecstasy pills

Woman arrested with Rp1.8b of Ecstasy pills

JAKARTA (JP): A joint team of Customs and Excise office personnel and police arrested a 20-year-old woman at Soekarno- Hatta International Airport here for possession of around 9,000 "Ecstasy" pills.

The local woman, identified only as ELW, was arrested at about 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday after the joint team found the pills, worth around Rp 1.8 billion (over US$800,000) on the black market here, in three plastic bags.

The pills were spotted through the airport's X-ray detector and were then tested by the officials in charge, reliable police sources told The Jakarta Post yesterday.

"After making sure that the suspect was alone, the team apprehended her as she was trying to get a taxi," said a source.

According to sources at the airport, ELW arrived from Frankfurt, Germany, aboard a Lufthansa airplane, flight number LH 778, via Singapore. The plane landed at 6:55 p.m.

During preliminary interrogations, the woman claimed that the drugs belonged to her friend in Amsterdam.

Her friend, whose identity is still being withheld by police, asked ELW to carry the pills to Jakarta, where a friend would then take them, police sources said.

National Police Spokesman Brig. Gen. Nurfaizi could not be reached last night for further confirmation.

Ecstasy, also known as MDMA, is popular among young Indonesian adults and teenagers attending raves.

The pills can be found easily at many nightclubs and discotheques here as well as many other big cities. The pills cost between Rp 75,000 and Rp 200,000 each. (bsr)