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)