Desy Nurhayati, The Jakarta Post, Badung | Mon, 07/19/2010 10:49 AM
Police busted a drug ring early this week after its members, a Filipino and a Nigerian national, attempted to smuggle heroin and crystal methamphetamine from Kuala Lumpur. The arrests were made in Jakarta and Bali.
Two of the four suspects, both Filipino women, were arrested at Bali’s Ngurah Rai International Airport late Monday, the Bali customs and excise officials said Saturday.
It is common practice here for law enforcement agencies to delay the announcement of drug-related arrests to provide more time for officers to develop the cases.
The first suspect, identified as Carolina Sarmiento Bautista, was arrested at 8 p.m. as she landed from Kuala Lumpur, several hours before the second suspect, Fulache Beverly Adtoon, was arrested. Adtoon was also carrying drugs from the Malaysian capital, but on a different flight.
Bautista was arrested for allegedly attempting to smuggle 2.5 kilograms of heroin, while Adtoon was caught with 2 kilograms of crystal meth in her luggage.
“Both suspects used similar modus operandi by hiding the drugs inside the outer linings of their suitcases,” head of customs monitoring service Bambang Wahyudi said.
When their luggage passed through X-ray scanners, officers said they saw uncommon objects. The monitor displayed a thick orange layer indicating the presence of an organic substance, Bambang said.
Following a quick check, the drugs inside Bautista’s suitcase tested positive for heroin, while Adtoon’s contraband tested positive for crystal meth.
Bautista admitted that she was to have been paid US$1,000 (Rp 9.1 million) for transporting the drugs to Bali. She had been told to stay at a hotel in Kuta upon arriving at the resort island.
Adtoon said she was asked by a person in Malaysia to bring the drugs to Jakarta via Bali and was promised $1,500 if she managed to successfully bring the drugs to Jakarta.
Working on the assumption the two women were part of an international drug ring, Bali customs and Bali Police officers widened their investigation by bringing both suspects and the drugs to Jakarta.
The investigation in Jakarta led to the arrest of two Nigerian men, Maikel Onuorah and Austine Uchenna Bosa, allegedly the would-be recipients of the drugs, as well as an Indonesian woman, Enny Malini, allegedly the broker.
Bali Police narcotics division head Sr. Comr. Mulyadi said the suspect used Bali as a transit point.
“We found no indications the drugs were to have been distributed in Bali. It was to have gone on to Jakarta,” he said.
Drug smuggling from Kuala Lumpur to Indonesia has increased in the last several months. This is the 90th time that Customs and Excise officers have busted a smuggling attempt from the Malaysian capital, Bambang said.
Police reports show that 295 people have been arrested in drug smuggling cases in the first half of the year, 11 of whom were foreign nationals, including from Australia, Germany, Malaysia, the US and the Netherlands.
