A 52-year-old Frenchwoman was arrested at Ngurah Rai International Airport on Saturday for transporting 3.17 grams of cocaine in her mouth.
Keita Ep Toureh, identified as an employee of the Embassy of France in Thailand, was arrested soon after her arrival in Bali on Air Asia flight FD367 from Bangkok.
I Made Wijaya, head of the airport’s Customs and Excise Office monitoring department, told reporters on Monday that Toureh triggered an alarm as she passed through an X-ray body scanner.
“She used a new mode of trafficking by putting the cocaine in her mouth. The cocaine was wrapped in tissue paper,” Wijaya said.
An officer then took Toureh into an examination room for interrogation. “She spoke with a weird accent and finally we found four small transparent plastic bags wrapped in tissue paper,” Wijaya said.
The plastic bags tested positive for cocaine, which has a street value of Rp 2 million (US$234) per gram in Indonesia, according to Wijaya.
If Toureh is convicted under the narcotics law, she might be sentenced to a minimum of five years’ imprisonment and a maximum penalty of death or sentenced to pay a fine of between Rp 1 billion and Rp 10 billion.
Separately, airport customs officials arrested Yao Noriyoshi, a Japanese citizen, on June 28 for allegedly possessing 4 grams of marijuana and 3 grams of hashish.
Yao, the owner of a car dealership, attempted to hide the drugs under a chair in the interrogation room, Wijaya said, as reported by kompas.com.
If convicted, the 44-year-old could face the death penalty.
Ni Komang Erviani, The Jakarta Post, Badung | Tue, 07/05/2011 7:00 AM
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