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ustoms and Excise officers at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport have foiled four drug smuggling attempts and have arrested two foreigners and four Indonesians as suspects in the past weeks, one of whom is a former volleyball athlete.

Chief Okto Irianto said in a press conference on Monday that the former athlete who played for the national team in 1987, identified as EN, was allegedly the recipient of a package containing three pairs of sandals and a dress sent from Mumbai, India, on Oct. 28. The officers found 124 grams of crystal methamphetamine hidden in the sandals.

EN, who lived in Cirebon, West Java, said the package was sent by her husband's Nigerian friend.

The airport police's deputy drugs unit chief, Adj. Comr. Subakti, said EN became acquainted with the sender through social media.

In a similar example of smuggling, a package containing a pair of shoes laden with 354 grams of crystal meth was sent from the Philippines to Palu, Central Sulawesi, on Oct. 28. Officers arrested package recipients A, N and F.

The officers also arrested German national SW, who arrived on a Garuda Indonesia flight from Gudong, China, on Nov. 2, carrying 2.048 grams of crystal meth hidden in four containers of baby formula.

National Narcotics Agency (BNN) spokesman Soemirat Dwiyanto said the retired postman received an order by email from an unidentified Nigerian man who asked him to carry money while traveling to several countries. 'The last country he should have visited was Australia but the man booked him a ticket to Jakarta instead,' he said.

In the last case, Chinese LL, who arrived at the airport on Nov. 2 from Hong Kong, was arrested as officers found 2,118 grams of crystal meth hidden in her luggage.

'Drug smuggling cases through Soekarno-Hatta reached a new high this year with 77 smuggling attempts between January and Nov. 2. We have arrested 52 Indonesians and 40 foreigners from various countries as suspects,' Okto said.

Since January, officers have seized 98,716 grams of crystal meth, 11,453 grams of ketamine, 289.5 grams of heroin, 774 grams of cocaine and 414,585 ecstasy pills worth Rp 290 billion in total as evidence.