Judges at West Jakarta District Court sentenced Hong Kong drug dealer Wong Chi Ping to death on Friday for smuggling hundreds of kilograms of crystal methamphetamine, locally known as sabu-sabu.

Chief judge M. Arifin said that Wong, who also goes by the local name Surya Wijaya, had been found guilty of smuggling 862.6 kilogram of sabu-sabu from the Philippines to Indonesia.

The panel of judges sentenced him to death because he had committed an extraordinary crime that had an impact on the youth of Indonesia.

"The sentence he has received is not based on revenge but a legal enforcement to educate based on fairness," Arifin told the court as quoted by kompas.com.

The court also revealed that Wong had also been involved in an another attempt at smuggling along with someone named Ahyi in China, who remains at large.

Wong smuggled the narcotics from the Philippines to Indonesia by sea. He was abetted by eight accomplices: Ahmad Salim Wijaya, Sujardi, Syarifudin Nurdin, Tam Siu Liung, Siu Cheuk Fung, Tan See Ting, Cheung Hon Ming and Andika.

Four of the members of the syndicate are from Hong Kong, one is Malaysian and four are Indonesians.

The prosecutors had sought death penalty for all nine defendants for violating the 2009 Law on drugs.

Six had previously been sentenced by the West Jakarta District Court. The court sentenced Ahmad to death, while Cheung was sentenced to 20 years in prison and Syarifuddin was sentenced to 18 years in prison.

Tan, Siu and Tam were sentenced to life. (rin)

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