P

olice and customs officials at Bali's Ngurah Rai International Airport arrested Wednesday seven Iranians for attempted drug trafficking.

The seven men had arrived on board Qatar Airways flight QR624 from Istanbul via Doha, Qatar, at 6.39 p.m. Bali time.

Identified as Mehdl Alinejadgolestan, Brahman Mirzaei, Mohsen Muhammadiargasl, Daryoush Amidali, Alireza Safarkhanloo, Masoud Soltaninabizadeh and Saeid Soltaninabizadeh, they are alleged to have swallowed hundreds of capsules of crystal methamphetamines, which they attempted to smuggle into the country.

Bali Customs and Excise Office head Faried Silby Barcea said an airport official grew suspicious of one of the men, Amidali, when he alighted.

"He had a huge and stiff belly," Barcea said.

"He also looked tense, fearful even."

Customs officials then contacted police, who took Amidali to the nearby Bali International Medical Center.

There, doctors examined him and found a plastic bag full of crystal meth capsules in his stomach.

Believing Amidali was not working alone, police checked the flight manifest from Qatar Airways and rounded up six other passengers from their accommodation at the Simpang Inn in Kuta.

They then searched the three rooms the men had booked at the motel and found packages of crystal meth in the bathrooms.

Bali Police forensics lab head Sr. Comr. Muhibin said the capsules found in Amidali's stomach were 99 percent pure crystal meth.

Police took the six others to the Bali Police headquarters and recovered another 370 capsules.

Bali Police anti-narcotics head Sr. Comr. Kokot Indarto said the seven Iraninans had probably swallowed the capsules in Turkey before boarding the plane.

"Each man took at least 100 capsules, each weighing around 5 grams," he added.

The drugs, which police claimed were produced in China, have an estimated street value of Rp 7 billion.

"These would-be traffickers were heading for Jakarta," Indarto said.

"Bali was just their entry and transit point before selling the drugs in Jakarta."

He added the men also had return tickets from Jakarta to Doha.

"They planned to take a domestic flight from Denpasar to Jakarta," he said.

The seven men arrested Wednesday are the latest in a slew of Iranians nabbed here for attempted drug smuggling.