Nigerian trafficker killed by Indonesia police, another arrested

- A Nigerian dealer has been shot dead while another one was arrested by Indonesia police

- The men were allegedly caught while trying to smuggle marijuana and crystal methamphetamine into the country

A Nigerian man alleged to be a dealer in banned substances has been shot dead in Indonesia. The dead man was allegedly a member of a Malaysian-based smuggling ring with another Nigerian national and a Tanzanian woman.

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They were nabbed while attempting to smuggle marijuana and crystal methamphetamine into Indonesia.

The national police chief, General Tito Karnavian on Saturday, January 7, confirmed the arrests and death to newsmen at Jakarta’s Soekarno-Hatta International Airport.

According to him, customs officials at the Indonesia airport arrested the Tanzanian woman as she arrived from Kuala Lumpur in the early hours of Wednesday, January 4th.

Karnavian said the officials confiscated 138 grams of crystal meth hidden in 20 capsules and three grams of marijuana tucked into her underpants, and 66 more capsules of crystal meth that she had swallowed, adding that the police and customs officials have foiled 673 smuggling attempts into Indonesia between 2014 and 2017, and seized more than 2,000 kilograms of banned substances.

Also confirming the arrests, Customs and Excise director general Heru Pambudi said: “We arrested the woman after conducting data screening.

“The Tanzanian woman had traveled to Indonesia on her boyfriend’s instructions, a Uganda national in Malaysia.

“Customs officials later teamed up with police officers to arrest two Nigerian men who were going to receive the substances from the woman at a restaurant in Central Jakarta.

“Both men were allegedly part of the Malaysia-based smuggling ring.

“They resisted the police’s attempt to arrest them and tried to flee the scene, prompting officers to shoot.

“One of the men died at the scene.

“The Indonesian police have turned their attention to the Malaysian smuggling ring lately.

Pambudi said, noting that the names of the suspects would be revealed upon completion of investigation: “Better data and information exchange with the Customs Office has helped us enormously in investigating the Malaysian smuggling ring.”

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Meanwhile, a man identified as John Okoro, who had served a prison term in India and was to be deported in few hours, escaped from the anti-narcotics cell.

According to Mumbai Mirror, 35-year-old Okoro had sought permission to step out of the detention room on the first floor of the agency’s Azad Maidan office around 2am Wednesday, saying he wanted to use the toilet, and then jumped from the balcony. He crashed through the asbestos roof and fled on foot.