South African National Caught Attempting To Smuggle Meth

Kuta (Antara Bali) - Customs officers at Bali's Ngurah Rai airport have caught South African national Kedibone Sheilla Motsweneng (38) who attempted to smuggle 2.458 kilograms of methamphetamine to Bali.

The head of the airport's Customs Service and Supervision, I Made Wijaya, said here on Wednesday the suspect was caught on Sunday (23/10) at around 1.30pm at Ngurah Rai airport.

The holder of passport number A01689641 was caught after disembarking from a Singapore Airlines plane on flight number SQ 942 serving the route of Johannesburg-Singapore-Denpasar (Bali).

"Customs officers suspected a man or a passenger that would pass the X-Ray checking point. Based on standards a check was done and another check was done more thoroughly by opening his bag," he said.

It was when the black bag was opened did the customs officers find a package hidden in an inside room in the bag. "When the package was opened it was found it contained white crystal powder which was later found after being tested to be Category I narcotic drug methamphetamine weighing 2.458 kilograms," he said.

Wijaya said after the arrest of the librarian the customs service then coordinated with the Bali police command to trace the would-be recipient of the illegal drug.

"We then conducted delivery control to find the recipient," he said.

Based on it officers then arrested ES, an Indonesian female citizen, at a hotel in Bali.

Officers then traced the case again to Surabaya and discovered another suspect involved in the case namely AR, an Indonesian male citizen, another would-be recipient of the drug.(**)