Malaysian pilot accused of smuggling 70,000 ecstasy tablets into Jakarta, risks death penalty, say Indonesian police

A Malaysian pilot risks the death penalty in Indonesia after being arrested at Jakarta’s international airport with more than 70,000 ecstasy tablets in his suitcase, according to police who said today the man was on drugs while flying a passenger plane.

The 39-year-old pilot, identified only by his initials, MSO, was arrested late Wednesday at Soekarno-Hatta international airport shortly after arriving from Kuala Lumpur.

The airport customs office did not mention which airline the pilot worked for, but the flight number indicated it was a Malaysia Airlines plane.

“The results of his urine test came back positive for meth, MDMA, and cocaine. So, at the time of the flight, he was under the influence,” Hengky Tomuan Parlindungan Aritonang, an official at the airport customs office, told reporters in the Indonesian capital.

“What concerns all of us is that this person’s profession is a pilot, and at the time he arrived, he had just flown that plane from Kuala Lumpur to Indonesia,” he said.

Customs officials found 14 bags of ecstasy — more than 70,000 tablets — in the pilot’s suitcase, and four grammes of meth in his hand luggage.

It was the third time the man had smuggled drugs to Indonesia, according to Awaludin Amin, an officer for the national police’s drugs crime unit.

Awaludin said the police strongly suspected MSO to be part of an international syndicate, and he had been charged with violating Indonesia’s drugs law.

Under the law, he risks the death penalty or a life sentence if found guilty.

Indonesia has some of the world’s toughest anti-drug laws, including the death penalty for traffickers, but has maintained a moratorium on executions for several years.

There are dozens of foreign alleged traffickers on death row, hundreds altogether.

Indonesia last carried out the death sentence in 2016, when one Indonesian and three Nigerians convicted of drug offences were executed by firing squad.

Two British men were sentenced in March to nine and 11 years in prison respectively after they were found guilty of smuggling cocaine onto the tourist island of Bali. — AFP

[Source: Malay Mail]