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Police foil attempt to smuggle crystal meth into Central Sulawesi
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Harmful substance – The Parepare Police arrest two alleged drug smugglers (pictured) at the Nusantara Port in Parepare, South Sulawesi. They are accused of attempting to smuggle four kilograms of crystal meth, shabu-shabu, from Balikpapan, East Kalimantan, to Tolitoli regency, Central Sulawesi. (Courtesy of the Parepare Police/-)
T
he Parepare Police aborted an attempt to smuggle four kilograms of crystal methamphetamine, shabu-shabu, from Tarakan, North Kalimantan, to Tolitoli regency in Central Sulawesi. The crystal meth was smuggled via Nusantara port in Parepare, South Sulawesi.
The drug smuggling was discovered when Parepare Police officers spotted the strange attitude of Ardian, 28, a passenger of the motor vessel KM Lambelu, when he arrived at the Nusantara Parepare port from Balikpapan, East Kalimantan, which aroused their suspicion.
“When we checked passengers of the KM Lambelu, which just tied up on the port, Ardian seemed to be very panicky. He kept moving back and forth. Our personnel were suspicious and took him into custody. They searched a backpack he brought and found four kilograms of crystal meth,” said Parepare Police chief Sr. Adj. Comr. Alan Gerrit Abast on Tuesday.
During an examination conducted by police investigators, police said Ardian admitted he brought the crystal meth from Tarakan to Parepare via Balikpapan together with his friend, Taufik, 26. Taufik managed to escape the police at the port and returned to his home in Parepare. The police pursued him and he was eventually arrested.
Police said that the crystal meth, which was packed into four plastic packages, was to have been brought to Tolitoli via land routes. According to police, Ardian said he and his friend, Taufik, were promised Rp 10 million (US$757) each for delivering the drugs.
Police said the two suspects claimed they were not the owners of the crystal meth but were only assigned to bring it Tolitoli.
“The suspects said the shabu-shabu belonged to Andri Sabiring, who was from Balikpapan. It was said Andri, and his friend Andi Fahri, would depart for Palu. Those four people had made an appointment to meet in Palu,” said Alan.
The Parepare Police, in cooperation with the Sepinggan Airport Police, managed to arrest Andri and Andi at the airport. They were later taken into custody at the East Kalimantan Police headquarters for interrogation.
Police said Andri claimed he worked with a drug trafficker who supplied him with money to buy the crystal meth and funded its smuggling to Tolitoli from Palu. Andri and Andi were later flown to Palu to help the police pursue the syndicate members. They will be later taken to Makassar and then to Parepare, for further investigation.
Alan said the police were still investigating the case to discover the owner of the drugs and to find out the origins of the illegal substance.
Ardian and Taufik, who have been named suspects, are currently being detained by the Parepare Police. They will be charged with violating Article 114 of Law 35/2009 on narcotics, which upon a conviction carries a maximum sentence of death.
From January to the beginning of June, the Parepare Police four times foiled attempts to smuggle crystal meth via the Nusantara Parepare port. (ebf)
