Airport Customs Foils Bids to Smuggle Rp9.9 Billion Crystal Meth

Tangerang, W Java (Antara) - Soekarno-Hatta airport's Customs has foiled two separate attempts in one week to smuggle crystal methamphetamine and seized Rp9.9 billion worth of the narcotic, an official said here on Friday. A 34-year old Indonesian, identified with the initials MGR, was caught trying to smuggle 1,662 grams of crystal meth worth Rp2.2 billion, said Acting Chief of the Office of Surveillance and Customs Service Soekarno-Hatta, Purwidi, here on Friday. In a separate case, customs officers caught a 31-year-old man, identified with the initials MH, while he was trying to smuggle 5.716 grams of crystal meth worth Rp7.7 billion. "Officers found the methamphetamine package hidden in a spotlight and cardboard walls. The entire methamphetamine (consignment) had been packaged," he said. MH's interrogation has revealed he was acting as a courier for a Malaysian national, identified as MS. The Malaysian national had offered a payment of Rp15 million for smuggling the narcotic. "As per flight records MH was traveling from Kuala Lumpur to Surabaya with a transit in Jakarta," he said. The men and the evidence were handed over to the Soekarno-Hatta airport city police investigators and the National Narcotics Agency. As per Article 113 (paragraph 1 and 2) of Law No. 35, 2009, on narcotics, the punishment for smuggling narcotics is imprisonment of up to 15 years and a fine of Rp10 billion. If a person is found carrying more than five grams of methamphetamine, he faces the death penalty and a fine of Rp10 billion. (*)