Denpasar. An 84-year-old Indonesian man has been arrested in Bali for allegedly smuggling 2.5 kilograms of methamphetamine.
The man, identified as Arasain bin Anwar from Madura, East Java, was arrested on arrival at Bali’s Ngurah Rai International Airport from Kuala Lumpur on a Malindo Air flight on Friday.
“The methamphetamine is predicted to be worth Rp 5 billion, assuming the price for each gram is Rp 2 million,” Ngurah Rai customs office chief Made Wijaya said at a press conference on Saturday.
Officials reportedly grew suspicious of Arsain when he passed through the airport’s x-ray machine. On checking the man’s belongings, customs agents discovered three bundles of transparent crystal hidden in the inner compartment of his backpack as well as two other packages of the same substance hidden between pieces of clothing in another item of luggage.
Arsain reportedly told officials he had carried the drugs for a friend, identified as S., who, like himself, was an Indonesian migrant worker in Malaysia. Arsain has worked in Malaysia for 30 years and said he washed cars for a living.
Arsain received just 200 ringgit ($62) from his friend to carry the package, but said he was unaware he was carrying drugs.
“I took the money because my wife is ill,” he said.
Before flying to Bali, Arsain said he had been handed the drugs by S’s friend, identified as I. He also claimed to have been escorted by another man, R, who was also on board the same Malindo Airlines flight.
R., however, managed to get past security at the international airport’s arrival terminal.
“We are working with the Bali Police to chase after them and hopefully their network can be uncovered,” Wijaya said. “The maximum sentence is death.”
