JAKARTA: Jakarta customs have arrested three people suspected of drug smuggling, including a 26-year-old Nigerian who allegedly belongs to the Guangzhou-Jakarta international drug syndicate.
Jakarta Police chief Insp. Gen. Tito Karnavian said on Thursday that the police had seized 37 kilograms of crystal methamphetamine, with an estimated value of Rp 56 billion (US$4.02 million).
“The drugs came from Guangzhou, China, through a shipping service,” Tito told media at Jakarta Police headquarters.
The syndicate, Tito explained, operated in Nigeria and China. Its members inserted the drugs inside 28 women’s bags and shipped them from Guangzhou to Medan, North Sumatra, before transporting them to Jakarta.
The Police’s Narcotics Directorate head Sr. Comr. Eko Daniyanto said the police detained the suspects in different locations in Greater Jakarta after a month of surveillance and undercover operations.
The police arrested two Indonesians, identified only as AN, 28, and DN, 28, on Aug. 8 at the Palem Ganda Asri residential complex and the CBD Mall, respectively, in Ciledug, Banten, while the Nigerian was arrested at the Kedaton Resort in Gunung Geulis, Bogor, West Java.
The three suspects, Eko said, could face the death penalty under articles 114, 112 and 132 of Law No. 35/2009 on narcotics distribution and possession.
The arrests followed the arrest of six suspected drug couriers, comprising four Indonesians and two Nigerians, allegedly involved in the same syndicate, in which the police confiscated 70.3 kilograms of crystal methamphetamine worth Rp 112 billion.
