Image: Bags being checked on arrival. Credit: aeroexpo.online
A French man, D.F., 53, was caught trying to smuggle drugs through Zainuddin Abdul Madjid International Airport on Lombok on Friday, September 21, 2018, at around 11.45am.
However, the ploy was foiled by customs officers. “We checked his two bags because we saw there was something suspicious inside,” customs officer, I Wayan Tapamuka told republika.co.id.
The officers then asked the suspect to open his baggage. But the man refused and tried to run away leaving his bag behind. With the help of soldiers, police and airport security they managed to secure him before he left the airport area.
After he was brought back, the customs opened both of his bags where they found drugs with a total weight of 3,194.57 grams. They were divided into crystal flakes, powders and pills. They found nine packages of brown crystal flakes, which they suspected to be methylenedioxy methamphetamine (MDMA), with a total weight of 2,477.95 grams. There was also ketamine, with a total weight of 206.83 grams and methamphetamine, 256.69 grams. Officers also secured 850 ecstasy pills.
The custom officers tied the man’s hands together to prevent any desperate actions from the Frenchman. “When we caught him trying to escape he had said it would be better to die now than face a firing squad. He was banging his head on the interrogation table when we put him in our office. That’s why we secured him tightly,” said I Wayan Tapamuka to kompas.com. “We also checked his body to find if he had brought any suicide pills, which sometimes these people do, but we didn’t find any,” he added.
“He didn’t want to reveal who sent him and where he was going with the drugs,” Tapamuka said.
West Nusa Tenggara Polda Narcotics Unit have followed up the investigation and he has been charged for possession and importation of illegal drugs.
The man had previously entered Indonesia four times, two times through Bali and once before to Lombok. He told police that he had previously been vacationing here and this was the first time he was carrying drugs.
After questioning the man, police ascertained that he had been paid five thousand Euros to carry the goods. “He also said that he was asked to come to Lombok and deliver the packages to a hotel in Senggigi. I am sure the recipient is a local man,” NTB Police Narcotics Investigation Director, Yus Fadillah told antaranews.com.
