Antony Glen de Malmanche - JP/Zul Trio Anggono

The Denpasar District Court on Tuesday sentenced New Zealander Antony Glen de Malmanche, 53, to 15 years in prison for attempting to smuggle 1.7 kilograms of crystal methamphetamine.

Presiding Judge Cening Budiana said De Malmanche had been proven guilty of violating Article 113 of Law No 35/2009 on narcotics.

'€œThe defendant, without any right, imported type-one narcotics weighing more than 5 grams,'€ Cening said.

The panel of judges also imposed Rp 4 billion (US$307,692) in fines or an additional three months in prison.

The sentence was lighter than the 18 years'€™ prison term sought by the prosecutor, who additionally sought Rp 4 billion in fines or an additional six months'€™ jail term.

Cening added that the panel of judges found no justification for De Malmanche'€™s crime.

The judges considered the defendant to have contravened the government'€™s drug eradication program, as well as damaging Bali'€™s image as a tourist destination.

'€œThe drug that was brought to Bali could have been very dangerous if circulated,'€ Cening said.

De Malmanche was arrested in December last year when customs officials noticed his suspicious body language after he arrived at Ngurah Rai International Airport from Hong Kong on board a Hong Kong Airlines flight.

An X-ray scan found a package containing 1,709 grams of crystal methamphetamine in his backpack.

The drugs were packed in a plastic bag wrapped in brown tape. A narcotics test confirmed it was crystal meth.

Malmanche'€™s lawyer, Chris Harno, said he had yet to decide whether to appeal. He was given seven days to decide.

The verdict, Chris said, was unfair. '€œThe judges reached a verdict based only on the police dossier. They did not consider all the facts revealed in the trial,'€ he said.

Meanwhile in Palu, Central Sulawesi, Adriano Adnan was arrested in front of a cargo company on Jl. Muh Hatta on Saturday at 3:30 p.m. local time for transporting crystal meth.

Adriano is reportedly a courier for a drug dealer, identified only as HC, strongly suspected of being part of the same network as death-row inmate Ferry Budiman, who was convicted of drug smuggling.

Palu Police chief Adj. Sr. Comr. Basya Radyananda said the arrest had been made based on HC'€™s confession. HC was previously arrested by the National Police.

'€œWe had the chance to pursue HC to Banggai, but he fled to Jakarta,'€ Basya told reporters on Tuesday.

Adrianto, Basya said, had gone to the cargo company to pick up a package, the ticket number of which had been texted to him. When police opened the package, they found two plastic packages of white powder suspected to be crystal meth.

Basya said the police had seized from Adriano two packs of crystal meth of 150 grams each, two brown boxes, a piece of blue cloth, a piece of floral cloth, a small box and a cellular phone.

Adriano hails from Kalukubula subdistrict, Biromaru district, Sigi regency, and is currently being detained at the Palu Police headquarters.

HC, meanwhile, is from Banggai and is currently being held at the National Police Headquarters.

His case is being processed by the directorate of narcotics crimes under the National Police'€™s Criminal Investigation Department (Bareskrim).

The two defendants will be charged under a number of articles, including Article 114 of Law No 35/2009 on narcotics of group I, which carries the death sentence, life imprisonment or a minimum six- year prison term, and a fine of Rp 10 billion.

Others include Article 112 of Law 35/2009 on narcotics, which carries a sentence of life imprisonment or a minimum five-years prison term and a fine of Rp 8 billion.

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