Image: Welcome to Bali. Credit: ST
A Russian tourist, TA, 29, was arrested by Customs officers at the International Arrivals Terminal of Ngurah Rai International Airport on Monday at around 12 noon. He was searched after a tipoff from Napalese and Malaysian authorities and found with 63 capsules of hash in his stomach with a total weight of 389 grams.
The arrest was a result of the coordination between Ngurah Rai Customs with Kathmandu Airport, Nepal and Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia authorities. They informed the local Customs that there was a passenger on the way to Bali with drugs. It was already known that the man was on a Malindo flight en route from Kathmandu, Nepal via Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
He arrived at Ngurah Rai Airport at 10.40am, Monday.
“We already knew the information in advance. When he arrived in Bali, our personnel were already on standby to catch him,” said a Customs source in Ngurah Rai airport to nusabali.com.
According to the source, when the man entered the arrival terminal, he was already being monitored by dozens of officers. After he picked up his baggage, he was asked to enter an isolation room to be questioned. However, the man who apparently is a designer in his country, refused to admit that he did bring any drugs into the country. The Customs officers also couldn’t find anything in his baggage.
The authorities brought him to BIMC Hospital, Kuta where he was X-rayed. According to the X-ray, there were dozens of small packages in his stomach.
“After we found the packages, the suspect admitted that it was drugs in his stomach. We gave him a liquid to excrete the packages,” the source said.
The Head of Ngurah Rai Customs, Himawan, confirmed the hashish smuggling by the Russian tourist. He said that the case is still being investigated by Bali Police. “We will release a statement with the Bali Police soon,” he said.
