TheJakartaPost
Please Update your browser
Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.
Actor’s son named drug abuse suspect
Change Size
Illegal drugs are displayed in this file photo taken during a recent press conference at the National Narcotics Agency (BNN) headquarters in Jakarta. (JP/Seto Wardhana)
The Jakarta Police have named Axel Matthew Thomas, the eldest son of actor Jeremy Thomas, a suspect of drug abuse.
Jakarta Police spokesperson Sr. Comr. Argo Yuwono said that based on an ongoing investigation, the police investigators had collected adequate evidence to name Axel a suspect for misusing nimetazepam, which is also known by the street name "Happy Five".
“We have solicited statements from witnesses and secured other evidence, including bank transfer receipts,” Argo said at Jakarta Police headquarters on Tuesday, adding that Axel had transferred Rp 1.5 million (US$112.71) to buy a strip of the drug from a man identified only as JV, who had been arrested earlier in the case.
The police have yet to conduct a test to discover if Axel had consumed the drug.
Argo added that if Axel was found guilty, he could be charged with the 1997 law on narcotics, which carries a minimum sentence of 3 years.
Previously on Monday, his father Jeremy reported police officers for allegedly assaulting his son.
The case was opened on Friday, when Airport Police at Soekarno-Hatta seized 1,118 nimetazepam pills that were smuggled from Malaysia in boxes of Panadol upon receiving information from the airport’s Customs Office.
On investigating the smuggled drugs, the police identified five individuals suspected of ordering the drugs, one of whom was Axel.
Axel was arrested by investigators on Saturday in South Jakarta, but was later released, as police found no drugs on him.
Argo said that Axel attempted to evade arrest and became engaged in a fight with police officers. (fac)
