Indonesian authorities have separately arrested a German man and an Austrian woman for attempting to smuggle methamphetamine into the country, officials said Thursday, an offense punishable by death.
The German, 49, arrived at Jakarta’s international airport from the Senegal capital Dakar via Dubai with 4.15 kilograms of crystal methamphetamine, said airport customs chief Okto Irianto.
“The methamphetamines were hidden in the lining of his luggage. They have a street value of $475,104,” Irianto told reporters, adding that the man was arrested in late November.
The Austrian woman, aged 25, had been arrested several days previously with three kilograms of the same drug in her luggage, Irianto said, adding that customs officials suspected a link between the two.
Police are now investigating whether the pair were connected, he said.
The officials did not name the arrested foreigners and the German and Austrian embassies could not immediately be contacted.
Indonesia enforces stiff penalties for drug-related crimes, including capital punishment or life imprisonment.
Several foreign nationals are on death row for drug-related offenses.
British grandmother Lindsay Sandiford was sentenced to death in January after being found with $2.4 million worth of cocaine in her luggage as she arrived on the resort island of Bali last year.
Source: Agence France-Presse, December 6, 2013
UPDATE - On July 24, 2014, DPN received the following message from a source in Indonesia:
"Regarding the Austrian woman facing the death penalty in
Indonesia: she did avoid it as did the two German men caught around the
same time.
All three of them were sentenced to 18 years. While all
sad, the saddest is Susan [the Austrian woman] who had a strong case in favor of her
innocence of any knowledge that she was carrying drugs. [A source] locked up with her at the women's prison told me the court
actually believed her story and what evidence there was to support it."
