By Nik Nurfaqih Nik Wil
JAKARTA, Aug 7 (Bernama) -- With more than 300 drug cases recorded in just seven months, averaging at least two a day and involving suspects of various nationalities, the figures at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport, Indonesia's busiest international gateway, chart a trafficking trail across borders, passports and flight paths.
Soekarno-Hatta Main Customs and Excise Office Head Hengky Tomuan Parlindungan Aritonang said the figures reflected the scale of enforcement at an airport handling about 25,000 to 30,000 international passengers daily, as syndicates exploit major aviation hubs and recruit couriers regardless of nationality.
“We have many cases where the inbound flight is from Malaysia or Thailand, but the person carrying the drugs is Indonesian. That happens too,” he told Bernama in a special interview.
Hengky said the country from which a flight arrived should not necessarily be equated with the nationality of the courier or the origin of the drugs, as major aviation hubs such as those in Malaysia, Thailand and Hong Kong were also used as transit points.
“Syndicates will use whoever they can use. They approach and persuade people,” he said, citing cases in which Indonesians working abroad were recruited to carry drugs when returning home.
Customs data showed that suspects intercepted this year came from a range of countries, including Spain, Malaysia, France and China. Thailand, Spain, Malaysia and Singapore were among the main sources of drugs detected in smuggling cases.
Psychotropic substances, etomidate and methamphetamine were among the most frequently smuggled substances, while methamphetamine and MDMA accounted for the largest seizures by weight.
Hengky said narcotics were also smuggled through air cargo, with investigators identifying the intended recipient before tracing the shipment back to its sender.
The broader picture comes amid heightened attention over several recent cases involving Malaysian nationals, including a Malaysian pilot arrested following the seizure of about 25 kilogrammes of MDMA at Soekarno-Hatta last week.
Another Malaysian was arrested at Juanda International Airport near Surabaya after authorities found 990 grammes of methamphetamine and 1,089 ecstasy pills allegedly strapped to his body, while three Malaysian women were detained at Soekarno-Hatta this week following the discovery of suspected MDMA, cocaine and ketamine.
Hengky, however, assured Malaysians travelling to Indonesia that they would not be singled out for additional scrutiny following the recent cases, saying Customs screening was conducted professionally without regard to nationality, ethnicity or skin colour.
“When it comes to narcotics, we work professionally. It has nothing to do with nationality, ethnicity or skin colour. We work based on data, intelligence and X-ray results; we only focus on the image. We don't know whose baggage it is. When we see something suspicious, then we look into it. Everyone is treated the same,” he said.
Hengky said the pilot case drew widespread attention not because the suspect was Malaysian, but because his profession made the case highly unusual.
“This case became a major talking point in Indonesia not because he was Malaysian, but because he was a pilot. He happened to be Malaysian, but he could have been a pilot from anywhere,” he said.
Hengky said pilots undergo stringent licensing, recruitment, medical examinations and other screening requirements, making the alleged use of one as a drug courier particularly surprising.
“We never expected a syndicate could go as far as using a pilot. What officers think is impossible is also what the syndicates think about. “They look for something that officers would consider unlikely, and perhaps that is what they eventually try.”
Hengky said that, as far as he was aware, only one other case involving a pilot had surfaced in Indonesia, involving an Indonesian pilot about 20 years ago.
-- BERNAMA