Iranian mother and son arrested at airport for carrying drugs

Multa Fidrus, The Jakarta Post, Tangerang, Banten | Mon, 05/02/2011

Customs and excise officers at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport have foiled an attempt to smuggle 1,300 grams of crystal methamphetamine from Tehran into the country and arrested two Iranians as suspects.

Gatot Sugeng Wibowo, prosecution and intelligence chief at the airport’s customs office, identified the two suspects on Monday as Z. Moradinejad, 70 and her son H. Fariborz, 36.

He said the mother and son flew from Doha on Qatar Airways flight QR-670 and arrived at the airport on Thursday.

“Based on analyses made by Customs Tactical Unit (CTU) team members in charge at terminal II, the mother and her son were suspected of carrying contraband,” he said.

Suspecting that they were being observed by officers, the mother and son became nervous and so the officers decided to examine their luggage, during which they found seven plastic bags containing the crystal methamphetamine worth Rp 2 billion (US$220,000) hidden in false compartments in the luggage.

Drug smuggling violates Article 113 of the 2009 Narcotics Law, which carries a maximum punishment of death.