Drug mule gets 25 years' jail and 15 strokes of cane
A 42-year-old Indonesian drug mule, who swallowed 29 pellets of methamphetamine, inserted 10 into his rectum and hid four in his shorts and a shoe, took a flight from Guangzhou to Singapore, intending to transit to Jakarta on the same day.
But at Changi Airport, Adri Anton Kalangie missed his connecting Singapore Airlines flight and spent two days in the transit hall.
A customer service officer, who was concerned that Adri was smoking and seemed to be drunk, approached him and found out that he had missed his flight. Adri began crying and apologising repeatedly.
The officer then escorted him to the transit counter for a new ticket to be issued at no cost.
But on the way to the departure gate, Adri, still crying and apologising, admitted he was in possession of drugs.
Yesterday, he was sentenced to 25 years' jail and 15 strokes of the cane after he pleaded guilty to importing not less than 249.99g of methamphetamine, known as Ice, on March 21 last year.
He was originally charged with importing the actual amount of 275.44g, which carries the death penalty.
The charge was reduced to a non-capital one after representations from his lawyers under the Legal Assistance Scheme for Capital Offences.
Adri's lawyer, Mr Eugene Thuraisingam, said in his mitigation plea that he missed his flight as he was not feeling well and began hallucinating, which he believed was the result of the drugs in his system.
An X-ray conducted after Adri's arrest showed 39 pellets in his colon, although no rupture or leakage could be seen.
He had been a drug mule since 2013, after a Nigerian drug syndicate leader promised him 10 million rupiah (S$1,030) for each delivery from China to Indonesia.
He made six successful deliveries before his arrest.
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