Indonesian Customs Foils Meth Smuggling Attempt

Tangerang, Banten (Antara Bali) - The Soekarno-Hatta International Airport's customs and excise authority has foiled an attempt to smuggle 2.148 kilograms of crystal methamphetamine from Hong Kong, a customs officer said.

The smuggled crystal meth was packed inside a ceramic statue of frog being stored in the airport's PJT warehouse, Chief of the airport's customs office Okto Irianto said here Tuesday.

An Indonesian man, only identified with an initial Z, was arrested, he said without revealing when his men succeeded in foiling the attempt to smuggle the drug worth Rp2.8 billion.

"The drug smuggling attempt can be foiled after the customs and excise officers suspected a ceramic statue of frog being stored in the PJT warehouse. They then checked the ceramic, sent from Hong Kong to someone in West Jakarta, and found the crystal meth inside," he said. The evidence has been handed over to the local police for further investigation, Okto Irianto said.

Indonesia has become one of the main targets of drug traffickers in Southeast Asia due to its big market. As a result, the country declares a war on the drug trafficking and executes those found guilty and sentenced to death by court.  Indonesia had recently executed six drug convicts as part of its serious efforts to combat drug trafficking in the country.

The six convicts were Namaona Denis of Malawi, Marco Archer Cardoso Moreira of Brazil, Daniel Enemuo, alias Diarrassouba Mamadou, of Nigeria, Ang Kiem Soei, alias Kim Ho, alias Ance Tahir, of the Netherlands, Rani Andriani, alias Melisa Aprilia, of Indonesia, and Tran Thi Bich Hanh of Vietnam. (WDY)