3 Filipinos face death for drug smuggling

Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE AR-SA Three Filipinos could face the death penalty in Indonesia for trying to smuggle $2.1 million worth of shabu, or crystal methamphetamine, into that country last week. This comes on the heels of a British woman losing her appeal on a death sentence meted out by a court on the Indonesian resort island of Bali over a drug-smuggling case. Lindsay Sandiford lost her appeal on Monday against a conviction for carrying cocaine into Bali with a street value of $2.4 million. Indonesian Customs official Okto Irianto told reporters that the Filipinos were arrested when they arrived at a Jakarta airport from Hong Kong with their drugs haul of 15.3 kg of shabu, which they hid in 15 boxes of milk powder. “They are professional couriers and this was their first attempt to smuggle drugs into Indonesia,” reports reaching Manila quoted Irianto as saying on Tuesday. Indonesian police have since been questioning the three men—one in his 40s, another in his 50s and the third is 61 years old—to ferret out more information on their illegal activities and which crime syndicate are they working for. [Image via Shutterstock]