Attempt to smuggle drugs in machine spare parts thwarted

The joint team has thwarted an attempt to smuggle crystal methamphetamine weighing 6,166 grams or 6.1 kg from the Ivory Coast. Tangerang, Banten (ANTARA) – A joint team of officials from the Customs and Excise Office and the Soekarno-Hatta Airport Police in Tangerang, Banten, have foiled an attempt to smuggle 6.1 kilograms of methamphetamine into Indonesia from the Ivory Coast.”The joint team has thwarted an attempt to smuggle crystal methamphetamine weighing 6,166 grams or 6.1 kg from the Ivory Coast,” Soekarno-Hatta Customs head Gatot Sugeng Wibowo informed here on Tuesday. The illicit drugs were brought to Indonesia in two packages containing spare parts for water pumping machines. “The package number AWB 81762204 was addressed to a recipient with the initials SA in Bekasi,” he said. The joint team found drugs wrapped in 12 plastic bags that were placed inside the spare parts after unpacking and inspecting the package. “Officers became suspicious about the cavity of two used spare parts (which) were then dismantled and (they) found 6 packages containing crystalline powder in each spare part,” he said. Following the finding, the officers immediately coordinated with the Soekarno-Hatta Police Narcotics Unit to carry out further investigation into the case. ccording to Wibowo, false concealment in consignments is one of the many methods used to smuggle narcotics into Indonesia. “Therefore, it takes the expertise of Customs officers to detect efforts to smuggle drugs into Indonesia,” he said.

Source: Antara News Agency