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Malaysian woman busted for smuggling drugs in sanitary napkin
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Thousands of ecstasy pills confiscated in a recent operation conducted by the National Narcotics Agency (BNN) are displayed for the media. (Tempo/-)
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Malaysian woman was arrested last month at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport in Tangerang, Banten, for allegedly trying to smuggle thousands of ecstasy into the country by hiding them in her underwear.
The 27-year-old was caught carrying 1,470 ecstasy pills in a sanitary napkin she was wearing, according to Customs and Excise Office head Erwin Situmorang.
“This is the first time we have found ecstasy pills [hidden] inside a sanitary napkin – they are usually used to smuggle shabu-shabu [crystal methamphetamine],” Erwin said on Thursday as quoted by wartakota.tribunnews.com.
The arrest was made on April 20 when airport authorities spotted a passenger who had just arrived from Kuala Lumpur behaving suspiciously. After searching the passenger, they found the pills covered with plastic inside her underwear.
The suspect admitted that she had been ordered to bring the drugs to a hotel in North Jakarta and wait for further instructions.
Soekarno Hatta police chief Adj. Sr. Comr. Togi Tambunan explained that the suspect called someone in Malaysia, who instructed her to store the drugs in a hotel room, return the room key to the hotel receptionist and then fly back to Malaysia.
The person told her that someone would pick up the ecstasy pills later.
Customs and Excise officers then coordinated with airport police to make a controlled delivery at the hotel.
“We waited for hours after the check-out time passed, but no one had come to pick up the drugs. Therefore, we decided to take the pills and the suspect to our headquarters for further investigation,” Togi said.
The suspect could be charged with Law No. 35/2009 on narcotics, which carries a maximum sentence of death or life imprisonment. (vny)
