TEMPO.CO, Tangerang - Head of the Soekarno-Hatta Customs and Excise Division Gatot Sugeng Wibowo announced that he had foiled a smuggling attempt of 144 grams of diamonds by a 25-year-old Indian national identified as RA. Customs officers said the suspect hid the item inside their ‘modified’ undergarments.

“It was modified with additional pouches and stitches in the groin area,” said Gatot to Tempo on Friday, June 16, 2023.

Moreover, Gatot said that customs officials were already distracted by the suspect’s appearance that had a notable nudge in the bottom half of his wardrobe. They did not suspect that the nudge was hiding diamonds that had a total value of Rp1.5 billion.

“It was somewhat laughable when officials physically checked him and saw the specially-designed underwear to store the diamonds,” said Gatot. “There were two main plastic pouches and 11 paper packages filled with the diamonds.”

RA arrived at Soekarno-Hatta Airport after flying aboard Thai Airways TG0433 departed from Bangkok to Jakarta on Wednesday, June 14 at 11:35 WIB.

To investigators, the suspect claimed they were asked by someone in Mumbai to deliver the package to Indonesia. "He admitted that he received the package along with the modified underwear, he did not know that the package contained diamonds," Gatot said.

Arriving in Jakarta, Gatot said, the plan was for the diamond package to be picked up by someone at a hotel in Central Jakarta. He was promised 5,000 rupees for smuggling the diamonds.

JONIANSYAH

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