Attempt to smuggle Rp 9.5b-worth of crystal meth foiled in Bali

Attempt to smuggle Rp 9.5b-worth of crystal meth foiled in Bali

The Jakarta Post, Kuta, Bali | Archipelago | Mon, December 09 2013, 4:56 PM


Customs and Excise officers at Ngurah Rai International Airport in Bali have foiled an attempt by two alleged members of an international syndicate to smuggle into the country 4.7 kilograms of crystal methamphetamine, locally known as shabu-shabu, worth Rp 9.5 billion (US$792,988).

“The illegal drugs brought in by the two suspects were highest quality shabu-shabu from India,” said the airport’s head of supervision and services, I Made Wijaya, in Kuta, Bali, on Monday, as quoted by Antara news agency.

The two suspects were arrested in separate incidents.

A 39-year-old female suspect, identified only by the initials ISU alias Ika, from Garut, West Java, was arrested shortly after her Singapore Airlines 942 flight from New Delhi, India, touched down at Ngurah Rai airport at 12:15 p.m. on Saturday.

During an examination, customs officers discovered 3,212 grams of crystal meth hidden inside hollow spaces in her luggage.

Wijaya said that at first, the former Indonesian migrant worker refused to give information on the origin of the drugs.

“After five hours of questioning, she finally agreed to tell us where the drugs had come from, which provided information on the second suspect,” Wijaya said.

The second suspect, a woman aged 44 and referred to by the initial L, was apprehended after she landed at Ngurah Rai on a Garuda Indonesia flight, also from New Delhi, at 4:30 p.m. on Sunday.

Customs officers confiscated 1,547 grams of crystal meth from the second suspect, who once worked as a kindergarten teacher, which were found wrapped in a brown-colored bag inside her luggage.

The officers suspected that ISU was a courier, while L played a role both as a drug-trafficking operation controller and a recruiter of couriers for an international drug network. (ebf)