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Singaporean mule caught with 4,516 ecstasy pills
Security officers at the Hang Nadim International Airport in Batam, Riau Islands, arrested a Singaporean citizen on Monday who was carrying thousands of ecstasy pills strapped to his waist
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ecurity officers at the Hang Nadim International Airport in Batam, Riau Islands, arrested a Singaporean citizen on Monday who was carrying thousands of ecstasy pills strapped to his waist.
Colin Heng Wee Keng, alias Wang Wei Qing, 44, had received help from an airport employee and a ticket scalper and was about to depart for Jakarta. However, when he passed through a body-scanner the alarm sounded and officers immediately searched his body.
Hang Nadim Airport acting head Suwarso said the drug mule had concealed the ecstasy pills, worth Rp 1 billion (US$102,660), inside a waist strap. The contraband was packed in five packages; four contained green Xiang Niang type ecstasy and one package contained a pink low-grade type ecstasy.
'An officer asked Heng to open his shirt but he refused. We forced him to and found a suspicious strap around his waist. He said it was medication for stomach ache. The contents turned out to be 4,516 ecstasy pills,' said Suwarno.
Security and immigration officers interrogated Heng and discovered he had entered Singapore from Malaysia overland on Saturday, May 11, and arrived in Batam from Singapore via the Batam Centre International Ferry Terminal on Monday.
'Heng admitted to receiving the ecstasy pills from two women at the ferry terminal in Batam. The drugs were bound for Jakarta where an unidentified person would pick them up,' Suwarso said.
Heng bought a Lion Air plane ticket for Rp 700,000 from a scalper, Juanda, under the name of Lukman M and an airport employee, Ahmad Yani, checked in for Heng at the airline counter enabling him to depart under a different name.
'We have strongly reprimanded Juanda and Yani and asked them to sign a letter stating they will no longer operate within the airport vicinity. We have handed Heng over to the Batam, Rempang and Galang [Barelang] City Police and the Riau Islands Provincial Narcotics Agency [BNP],' said Suwarno.
Heng refused to comment to reporters as he was escorted by police officers Heng with his face covered.
The Singaporean will be charged with violating Law No. 35/2009 on narcotics, which carries a sentence ranging from five to 20 years.
