20-year-old busted for selling synthetic weed, faces 20 years in prison

Picture for illustration purposes only
Picture for illustration purposes only

A Balinese man is looking at imprisonment equal to his lifetime for allegedly trafficking synthetic weed in Bali.

The suspect, a 20-year-old who goes by the initials NDA, was caught after picking up a package containing 14.35 grams of the drug. 

Public prosecutor Nyoman Tri Suryabuana said that NDA raised suspicions when leaving the post office, which led to his arrest.

“This case has not been tried. We did not file an exception to the prosecutor’s actions. The trial will commence next week,” the defendant’s lawyer, Gusti Agung Prami Paramita, explained yesterday.

A member of Bali’s Narcotics Agency (BNNP) found that NDA bought his synthetic weed from a supplier via Instagram.

“The defendant ordered through Instagram and paid IDR950.000 (US$64) by transfer,” Suryabuana explained. 

The shipping receipt contained the name Aruf, from Makassar, South Sulawesi. NDA also tried to mislead officials, and had his packages sent to his pseudonym Gede Era Kusuma. 

NDA conducted discrete transactions when he sold the weed in Bali. Police said he would drop off the goods in one location, where the buyer, whether friends or strangers, would pick it up. Payment was mostly through cash, though some records showed online transfers.

Under Indonesia’s Narcotics Law, NDA may face up to 20 years in prison for selling drugs.

Despite severe punishments for drug traffickers in Indonesia, cases involving marijuana are common in the country, including Bali. Lately, a Brazilian student was apprehended for bringing marijuana from Thailand, and police arrested bakers who laced their cookies with cannabis.



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