8 Taiwanese Charged with Death Sentence over Meth Smuggling
10 January 2018 22:12 WIB
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Eight Taiwanese citizens who smuggled one ton of crystal meth from Taiwan underwent their first court hearing at the South Jakarta District Court on Wednesday, January 10.
The defendants are Sun Kou Tai, Juan Jin Sheng, Sun Chih Feng, Tsai Chih Hung, Kou Chun Yuan, Liao Guan Yu, Chen Wei Cyuan, and Hsu Yung Li. They were accompanied by Susi Ong as their translator.
Today's trial that was held for 90-minute was to hear the charges presented by the state prosecutor. “The charges were read together to the eight suspects,” said public prosecutor Abun Hasbulloh on Wednesday, January 10.
Read: Police Foil Attempt to Smuggle One Ton Crystal Meth from Taiwan
According to Abun, the eight suspects are charged with the death sentence, which is the most severe penalty based on the crimes they had done.
The smuggling attempt happened in July 2017 at a hotel in Anyer, Banten. At the time, police ambushed the men when they were distributing the drugs with separate vehicles. Their leader, Lin Ming Hui, was shot dead by authorities after he resisted arrest.
Police seized 51 sacks, each was filled with 20 kilograms of crystal meth, that was expected to be worth Rp1.5 trillion. Previous to the police ambush, five of the suspects were arrested onboard the Wanderlust ship, a vessel that was used to smuggle the drugs. This arrest is considered to be one of the largest drug-bust ever to be executed by Indonesian authorities.
Caesar Akbar
