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S. African arrested with 1.5 kilograms of crystal meth

The Bali-Nusa Tenggara Customs and Excise Agency has thwarted an attempt to smuggle 1

Fikri Zaki Muhammadi (The Jakarta Post)
Badung
Sat, February 15, 2014

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S. African arrested with 1.5 kilograms of crystal meth

T

he Bali-Nusa Tenggara Customs and Excise Agency has thwarted an attempt to smuggle 1.54 kilograms of crystal methamphetamine worth Rp 3.08 billion (US$260,722) onto the island through Ngurah Rai International Airport by a South African.

Agency chief Rahmat Subagio told reporters Friday that the suspect, 57-year-old Stephen Henri Lubbe, was arrested early Sunday upon arrival from Hong Kong.

Lubbe, he said, concealed the drugs in a hidden compartment inside his suitcase. He was arrested after customs officers became suspicious of the item after passing it through the X-ray scanner.

'€œWe have handed him over to the Bali Police, who are currently investigating his network and planned receiver,'€ he said in Badung.

'€œPreliminary questioning suggests that he belongs to a Nigerian drug syndicate that operates in 31 countries,'€ Rahmat said.

Rahmat said the police had yet to reveal whether the destination of the illicit drugs was intended to be Bali. '€œThe latest information we received was that Lubbe tried to enter the country via Jakarta.'€

Lubbe defended himself saying he did not know there were drugs in his suitcase.

Lubbe, according to Rahmat, said he was in Bali for a holiday. He claimed he had been paid with a holiday package on the island in return for delivering the suitcase.

The South African is facing life in prison or a death sentence for breaching Article 113 of the 2009 Narcotics Law by bringing drugs into the country.

The Bali Police'€™s narcotics directorate said they had found a lead indicating Lubbe had an accomplice in Bali. They said they were working with the National Narcotics Agency (BNN) to uncover the network.

Rahmat cited the arrest as an '€œexcellent achievement'€ in the effort to reach Indonesia'€™s target to be drug-free by 2015. '€œWe have saved many lives. A gram of crystal meth can intoxicate four people,'€ he said.

Unlike cocaine and marijuana, the distribution of crystal meth could be year-round as it was synthetic, Rahmat said. The former rely on plantations for the raw material, which do not grow throughout the year.

Despite the agency'€™s firm stance against the smuggling of drugs into the country, the government has been publicly criticized for granting parole to Australian drug convict Schapelle Corby.

The government'€™s move also drew criticism from lawmakers, who questioned the government'€™s commitment to combatting drug smuggling.

Corby was arrested at Ngurah Rai airport in October 2004 for smuggling 4.2 kilograms of marijuana into Indonesia. She was sentenced to 20 years behind bars.

In 2012, however, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono commuted her prison term by five years, raising eyebrows among the public. Corby was released just last week after being granted parole.

Corby would have been imprisoned until September 2022 if not for the five-year sentence reduction granted by Yudhoyono. Observers say that Corby should not have been granted parole so as to provide a stronger deterrent to drug smugglers.

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