Image: Chocolate cake has more than high calories. Credit: Delish.com
A 21 year old, intern student from Puerto Rico, United States with the initials, J.O.P.D.V, was arrested by National Narcotics Agency (BNNP) officers in Banjar Saren, Abiansemal, Badung on Thursday (6/25) at 11am allegedly smuggling ‘cannabis cakes’ into Bali.
Head of BNNP Bali, I Putu Agus Arjaya, said in a release on Tuesday (4/8) the intern student at a social institution in Sibang Kaja, Abiansemal, Badung attempted to smuggle the cake containing cannabis from Puerto Rico. The illegal goods were sent by post.
The package containing the chocolate cake was inspected by the Customs when it arrived at the Renon Post Office and was suspected to contain prohibited substances. Customs then coordinated with BNN Bali to investigate the matter.
“It was a traditional cake mixed with weed in Puerto Rico, USA. The cake weighed 130 grams and the suspect claimed it was made by a family member and then sent to Bali,” said Arjaya.
The parcel contained the cake, clothes, toys and other items. Suspicious of the contents, Customs officers conducted an in-depth examination.
The suspect had been in Bali for six months and came to the island to learn bamboo weaving.
Arjaya said in the statement that, to their knowledge, it was the first time someone had tried sending marijuana to Indonesia inside a cake. “The marijuana in the cake appears to be for self-consumption, and from the data obtained after questioning there are was no indication the suspect was inviting anyone else to consume the cake. The suspect told police that he had been using marijuana for two years,” the BNN head explained.
After discovering the cannabis in the cake, officers immediately conducted a controlled delivery on June 25, 2020 at 11am. The young man was then arrested and has been charged under articles 113 paragraph (1), 111 paragraph (1) and article 127 paragraph (1) of the law Number 35 of 2009 concerning possession and smuggling of narcotics.