TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - A Nigerian citizen Malachi Onyekachukwu Umanu was arrested for attempting to smuggle 1.072-kilogram illegal drugs or crystal methamphetamine packed in capsules. Head of the Soekarno-Hatta Airport Customs Gatot Sugeng Wibowo said the arrest took place on March 5.

“We tried to conduct an X-ray test on his body. It turned out there were suspicious items inside his stomach,” said Gatot in Jakarta Metro Jaya Police HQ on Wednesday, March 15.

Gatot explained that Malachi departed from Addis Ababa Airport, Ethiopia, boarding Ethiopian Airlines on March 5, and carrying one bag and luggage. His goods passed the screening but the airport customs official found foreign materials inside his body which required three days to expel them by excreting feces.

All of the evidence was collected in Kramat Jati Police Hospital. “We strived to release [the drugs] immediately because we were afraid they were cracked inside,” said Gatot.

A total of 64 capsules swallowed by the Nigerian citizen since March 3 were planned to be handed to someone in Tanah Abang, Central Jakarta.

Malachi was charged with Article 115 (5) in conjunction with Article 113 (2) in conjunction with Article 112 (2) of Law No. 35/2009 on narcotics.

Jakarta Metro Jaya Police’s Narcotics Unit was still tracing the person who would receive the crystal meth package. The unit director Sr. Comr. Mukti Juharsa said such a method has been applied in several cases of illegal drug smuggling.

M. FAIZ ZAKI

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