Indonesian authorities have arrested a second Malaysian national in less than a week for allegedly attempting to smuggle methamphetamine and ecstasy into the country, an offence that carries the death penalty under Indonesian law.
The 22-year-old suspect, identified only as “DI”, was arrested at Juanda International Airport in Surabaya on Monday (3rd August), shortly after arriving on Batik Air flight OD352 from Kuala Lumpur.
The operation was carried out by the Juanda Airport Security Task Force (Satgaspam) alongside Juanda Customs and Excise, the Indonesian Navy’s Juanda Naval Air Base (Lanudal Juanda), immigration authorities, Angkasa Pura Indonesia, PT Integrasi Aviasi Solusi, and other agencies.
Juanda Airport Security Task Force commander Lieutenant Colonel Novi Manunggal said the arrest followed intelligence received from Juanda Customs’ Enforcement and Investigation Team about the incoming flight.
“We received the information at around 9:50 a.m. WIB. After that, we immediately coordinated with all security elements to conduct surveillance and establish checkpoints at several locations,” Manunggal told a press conference.
Security personnel were deployed across the apron, immigration checkpoints, and customs X-ray inspection areas before the aircraft landed at Terminal 2 at approximately 11:16 a.m.
A subsequent physical inspection uncovered narcotics concealed beneath a corset wrapped around the suspect’s body.
“The inspection showed that the items were methamphetamine and ecstasy pills hidden by attaching them to the suspect’s body,” Manunggal said.
Officers seized 4 packages containing a total of 990 grams of methamphetamine and 4 packages containing 1,089 ecstasy tablets. Authorities estimated the drugs had a street value of approximately Rp2.9 billion.
According to Manunggal, DI told investigators he had agreed to act as a drug courier because of financial difficulties and debt.
“He admitted he was under financial pressure and burdened by debt,” Manunggal said.
The suspect has been handed over to investigators from Sidoarjo Police as they continue efforts to identify the wider trafficking network. DI has been charged under Article 113(2) of Indonesia’s Narcotics Law No. 35 of 2009, which carries penalties ranging from a minimum of five years’ imprisonment to life imprisonment or the death penalty for trafficking offences involving more than 5 grams of narcotics.
The Juanda arrest came less than a week after Indonesian authorities detained another Malaysian national, a 39-year-old commercial airline pilot, at Jakarta’s Soekarno-Hatta International Airport in a separate case involving more than 25 kg of narcotics, including more than 70,000 ecstasy tablets found in his suitcase. The pilot had just flown a passenger flight from Malaysia, and subsequent drug tests returned positive results for several illegal substances.
Malaysian police said they were investigating the latest case in cooperation with Indonesian authorities.
Lanudal Juanda commander Colonel Henoch Nasairus said Juanda International Airport, one of Indonesia’s main international gateways, remained under heightened surveillance for both passenger and cargo traffic.
“We are committed to strengthening synergy with all parties to maintain security and order in the airport area. These efforts are aimed at protecting the public from the dangers of narcotics trafficking,” Nasairus said.
Manunggal added that authorities would continue strengthening inter-agency coordination to prevent narcotics smuggling through air transport.
“We will continue strengthening surveillance and enhancing cross-sector coordination to prevent all forms of crime, particularly narcotics smuggling through air routes,” Manunggal said.
Indonesia has some of the world’s toughest anti-drug laws, including the death penalty for drug traffickers, although it has maintained a moratorium on executions for several years. The Muslim-majority country last carried out executions for drug offences in 2016, when one Indonesian national and three Nigerians were executed by firing squad.
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