6 people arrested with drugs in Indonesia, could face death penalty

Jakarta, Mar 15 (EFE).- Indonesian authorities reported Wednesday that they have arrested six people in recent weeks, including foreigners, for trying to enter the country with methamphetamine and liquid cocaine, a crime that is punishable with death.

Airport officials seized 1,072 and 1,042 grams of methamphetamine coming from Nigeria and India, respectively, in addition to two liters of liquid cocaine from Brazil, Customs head at Soekarno-Hatta Airport, Gatot Sugeng Wibowo, said at a press conference in Jakarta.

Wibowo said that the first arrest was made on Jan.1, during a routine inspection when they found a Brazilian national trying to enter Indonesia with two liters of liquid cocaine hidden inside six bottles of toiletries.

The second arrest was made on Mar.5, when X-ray images found a traveler coming from Nigeria with capsules or foreign objects in his stomach after having swallowed them.

After two days and with the suspect defecating three times, the authorities recovered 64 capsules containing, in total, 1,072 grams of methamphetamine.

Regarding the third case, Wibowo said that officers detained four people, including two Indonesians and two Nigerian citizens, and seized 1,042 grams of methamphetamine inside the passengers’ clothes. but did not specify the date of the arrests.

Indonesia has one of the strictest laws in the world regarding the use and trafficking of narcotics, and in the most severe cases it is punishable with death by firing squad. EFE

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