SURABAYA: Indonesian authorities have arrested a second Malaysian in days for allegedly smuggling methamphetamine and ecstasy into the country, a crime that carries the death penalty in the Southeast Asian nation.
A 22-year-old identified only as “DI” was detained in Surabaya, Indonesia’s second-largest city, on Monday shortly after landing on a flight from Kuala Lumpur, airport security task force head Novi Manunggal said in a statement.
Acting on a tipoff, officials at the airport found “methamphetamine and ecstasy pills attached to the suspect’s body”, Novi’s statement said.
“DI” was found with four packs, or 990 grams (34.9 ounces), of crystal meth and four packets containing 1,089 ecstasy pills, he said. The person has been charged with smuggling more than five grams of drugs, which in Indonesia carries a death sentence.
Authorities arrested a 39-year-old Malaysian pilot last week with more than 70,000 ecstasy tablets in his suitcase at Jakarta’s Soekarno-Hatta International Airport. The pilot had just flown a passenger plane from Malaysia, and subsequent tests returned positive results for several illegal drugs.
Indonesia has some of the world’s toughest anti-drug laws, including the death penalty for traffickers, but has maintained a moratorium on executions for several years.
Published in Dawn, August 5th, 2026
