Indonesia: Airport bust yields kilo of meth

Jakarta, 3 Feb. (AKI/Jakarta Post) - Indoneisian customs and excise officers on Friday have seized 1 kilogram of crystal methamphetamine, locally known as “sabu”, worth Rp 2 billion (US$222,000) and arrested an Indonesian on suspicion of smuggling at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport.

Oza Olivia, head of the Customs Office at the airport, identified the suspect as Deni Firmansah, 29, a resident of Kemayoran, Central Jakarta, who once served a one-year prison term at the Tangerang Youth Penitentiary for a drug offense in 2007.

According to Oza, the smuggling attempt was uncovered on Jan. 31, when officers became suspicious of a package sent from the United Arab Emirates via a courier company.

“Officers only found 17 water purifiers when they opened the package, which was supposed to be sent to Deni Firmansah at an address in Kelapa Gading, North Jakarta,” she said in a press conference at the airport on Friday.

“Pfficers then discovered 17 plastic bags containing the drugs after slicing off the filter tubes with a saw.”

Along with the National Narcotics Agency (BNN), the Customs Office developed the case by cross-checking the address given on the package.

The address led them to Deni, whom officers then arrested.

The suspect and evidence were then handed to the BNN for further case development.

The suspect will be charged with Article 113 of the 2009 Law on Narcotics, which carries a maximum sentence of death.

Since January this year, Customs officers have foiled four drug smuggling attempts involving a Malaysian and four Indonesians.

Officers have seized a total of 2.3 kilograms of sabu worth Rp 4.6 billion.