Juanda Airport Officers Foil Two Attempts to Smuggle Drugs

Juanda International Airport, East Java. ANTARA/Fahmi Alfian

JAKARTA - The Juanda International Airport Security Task Force (Satgaspam), East Java, thwarted the smuggling of narcotics by Malaysian citizens through Terminal 2 and secured a cargo package containing methamphetamine for Ternate, North Maluku.

The commander of the Juanda Airport Task Force, Lieutenant Colonel (Letkol) Laut (P) Novi Manunggal, said that the disclosure was the result of collaboration between the Juanda Navy Air Base (Lanudal), the Juanda Airport Task Force, Juanda Customs, PT Angkasa Pura Indonesia, PT Integrasi Aviasi Solusi, Immigration Office, and to strengthen the supervision of passenger and goods flows at the airport.

The disclosure of the first case began with information from the Juanda Customs Enforcement and Investigation Team (P2) regarding a Batik Air passenger on the Kuala Lumpur-Surabaya route who was suspected of carrying narcotics on Monday (3/8).

"Officers then placed personnel on the apron, immigration checks, to the x-ray inspection area of the Customs before conducting a follow-up examination of the passenger with the initials DI (22)," he said as quoted by ANTARA, Tuesday, July 4.

Officers found narcotics hidden in a corset or body wrap in the form of four packs of methamphetamine weighing 990 grams and four packs of ecstasy pills containing 1,089 pieces, which are estimated to be worth around IDR 2.79 billion and have the potential to save around 6,584 people from drug abuse.

In another disclosure, he continued, officers also thwarted the delivery of a cargo package to Ternate, North Maluku, on Sunday (2/8), after finding two plastic bags containing 188 grams of methamphetamine with a value of around Rp300 million.

All evidence and the perpetrator have been handed over to the Sidoarjo City Police (Polresta) investigators for legal proceedings in accordance with Law Number 35 of 2009 concerning Narcotics.

"With the maximum criminal threat in the form of the death penalty, life imprisonment, or a minimum of five years and a maximum of 20 years in prison," he said.