Multa Fidrus, The Jakarta Post, Tangerang | Wed, 11/11/2009 3:51 PM
Customs and excise officers have seized 1.6 kilogram of crystal methamphetamine, locally known as shabu-shabu, worth Rp 3.6 billion (US$380,000) from an Iranian at the Soekarno-Hatta Interantinoal Airport.
Head of Banten Customs Office Bachtiar said Wednesday that the suspect, identified only by his initials MV, is 32 years old and concealed the drugs in an artificial leg he was using.
“Officers conducting profile analyses on passengers became suspicious when the suspect who arrived at the airport on Tuesday evening with Emirates Airways (EK-358) suddenly became nervous with an unusual way of walking,” he said.
Suspicion then led officers to examine the suspect’s luggage to no avail. When search was directed to is body, a package containing the drug attached to his artificial leg was found.
“Hiding drugs inside artificial leg to smuggle then into the country is a new modus,” he said.
According to Bahctiar, the suspect claimed that this was his first visit to Indonesia and he planned to stay at a hotel in Kebon Sirih, Central Jakarta.
Meanwhile, Gatot Agung Wibowo, head of intelligence section at the custom office said after being interrogated, officers concluded that the suspect was only a courier who would be paid Rp 15 million should he manage to submit the drugs to someone at the hotel.
“The suspect claimed that he would use the money he would receive to pay for loan to the company where he work. He owed the company after a car accident and used the money for treatment fees at a hospital,” he said.
Gatot said the suspect had violated the 2009 law on drugs and if proven guilty, he will likely face death penalty.
Last month, officers foiled a dozen drug smuggling attempts by Iranians. Officers have seized more than 50 kilograms of shabu-shabu in crystal and liquid forms and have arrested 15 Iranians, most of them housewives.
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