Arrested In Bali, Interpol Fugitives Ownership Of 160 Kg Of Cannabis Returned To Rome

Foreign nationals with the initials AS (left second row) are closely guarded by Immigration and the police to be presented at a press conference at the Ngurah Rai Immigration Office, Badung, Bali, Sunday (19/2/2023). (ANTARA)

A foreign national with the initials AS who is an Interpol fugitive for possession of 160 kilograms of marijuana was returned to Rome, Italy from Bali Airport.

Three members of the Indonesian National Police (Polri) closely oversee the return of a foreign national with the initials AS who is an Interpol fugitive to return to Italy to undergo legal proceedings in his country.

Head of the Ngurah Rai Immigration Office (Kakanim) Sugito during a press conference in Badung, Bali, Sunday, said that AS returned to Italy, via I Gusti Ngurah Rai International Airport, Bali.

"Today (19/2) there will be repatriation," said the Head of Ngurah Rai as quoted by ANTARA, Sunday, February 19.

However, Immigration and the police kept information on flight schedules, flight numbers, airlines, and US flight routes secret for reasons of public security and safety as well as Interpol suspects themselves.

The person concerned has been a subject of Red Notice Interpol since 2016, then the person concerned will be immediately discharged. However, for time, flight number, it cannot be conveyed for security reasons," said Head of the Immigration Division of the Bali Ministry of Law and Human Rights, Barron Ichsan at the same press conference.

In the same press conference session, the Head of Public Relations (Head of Public Relations) of the Bali Police, Kombes Pol. Stefanus Satake Bayu Setianto said the National Police had coordinated with Interpol, both through representatives in Indonesia and Italy (NCB Roma).

"We will take the person concerned to Italy. So he is not picked up (NCB Roma) here," said Satake Bayu.

Then, the Head of International Crime Division of the International Relations Division of the National Police, Kompol Anggaito Hadi Prabowo, said that the three policemen guarding the US return consisted of two members of the Bali Police, and one member of the Police Divhubinter.

"Here the National Police Divhubinter coordinates with NCB Roma with a police-to-police system. The US return is fully supported (especially regarding travel costs, ed.) by the Italian government through NCB Roma," said Kompol Anggaito who also represented NCB Jakarta.

AS was arrested while transiting from Malaysia to Australia at I Gusti Ngurah Rai International Airport, Bali, by the Bali Police and Ngurah Rai Immigration in the first week of February 2023.

The US, which claims to be a property entrepreneur in Australia and has dual citizenship Italy and Australia, is a fugitive from Interpol (NCB Roma) for a 160 kilogram case of marijuana trafficking in Italy.

Anggaito said that the US is believed to be linked to a network of criminal organizations in Italy, Ndrangheta, which according to officials of the National Police Divhubinter, is also often involved in narcotics distribution, but also fraud, and other crimes.