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gurah Rai International Airport is a central gateway for the smuggling of drugs into Indonesia, second only to Soekarno-Hatta International Airport in Jakarta, an official of the customs directorate general said on Wednesday.

“Ngurah Rai Airport has often been used as an entrance for drug smugglers before they distribute drugs in Indonesia,” said Rahmat Subagio, customs director for investigation.

The number of drug smuggling cases in Indonesia continues to rise each year. As of October, there have been 101 cases, most of which have occurred at airports.

At Ngurah Rai, customs officers have foiled 10 attempts to smuggle drugs into Bali, confiscating a total of 12.6 kilograms of crystal methamphetamine, four grams of marijuana, 3.17 grams of cocaine, three grams of hashish and 2.49 grams of ketamine.

The latest cases occurred on Oct. 19 and Oct. 23, when customs officials seized 5.45 kilograms of crystal meth worth Rp 13.5 billion from two syndicates that were allegedly connected. The two cases involved three foreigners and three Indonesian nationals.

On Oct. 19, South African national Brett Theo Savage, 44, was arrested as he arrived at Ngurah Rai on a plane from Johannesberg. Customs officials seized 2.99 kilograms of crystal meth, worth Rp 7.48 billion, hidden inside his luggage.

After Savage’s arrest, customs officers worked with the Bali Police to conduct further investigations into tracking the recipients of the drugs. This led to the arrest of an Indonesian woman, Sri Handayani, at a hotel in Denpasar where Savage was allegedly scheduled to hand over the drugs, said customs office head I Made Wijaya. Furthermore, officials arrested Nigerian Emmanuel Obumneme, who allegedly owned the drugs.

On Oct. 23, another drug smuggler was arrested on suspicion of committing a similar crime. The suspect was Kedibone Sheilla Mot weneng, a 38-year-old woman from South Africa. She was arrested as she landed with 2.46 kilograms of crystal meth hidden within her luggage.

Further investigations led to the arrests of two Indonesian nationals, a woman named Elis Suprapdingrum in Denpasar and a man named Adi Ratno in Surabaya.

The two syndicates are allegedly connected as they employ similar methods of operation, using white South African nationals as couriers. “This might be a new mode of operation to deceive officers, because in many previous cases, they have used black couriers,” Wijaya said.

The six suspects may be charged with anything from a five-year sentence to the maximum sentence of the death penalty, as well as fines of between Rp 1 billion and Rp 10 billion, as stipulated in article 135 of the 2009 Narcotics Law.

On Wednesday, a woman from Denmark who was arrested at Ngurah Rai airport for smuggling 218.23 grams of hashish was sentenced to five years in prison by the Denpasar District Court.

Presiding judge Amzer Simanjuntak said that Tine Rasmussen was found guilty of smuggling the drugs and was charged with Article 113 of the 2009 law. The ruling was more lenient than the seven years demanded by prosecutors.

Rasmussen denied that she was distributing the drugs, saying that they were for her personal use.

She was arrested by the Bali Police on March 3 in the airport parking lot after she managed to evade detection by customs officials. Hashish capsules were found inside her stomach.