THAI WOMAN TRIED FOR HEROIN

TANGERANG - A Thai woman broke down at Tangerang District Court
here on Tuesday during her indictment for trafficking 4.25 kilograms
of heroin concealed in her luggage.

Wearing a black dress and brown pants, Suphaporn Phanluang alias Nang
began sobbing before presiding judge Jesminar Idrus opened the trial.

Prosecutor Rustam Nawawi said the 32-year-old defendant arrived at
Soekarno-Hatta International Airport on flight TG 433 from Bangkok on
Feb. 17.

"The defendant was arrested by immigration officers after her bag
failed to pass a X-ray device at terminal D of the airport," Rustam
said.

The officers found the bag contained heroin after piercing it with a
special needle, he said.

Examination by the National Police Forensic Laboratory also proved the
contents of the bag were pure heroin, the prosecutor said.

Rustam said that Nang was ordered by a man, identified as Peko, to
deliver the bag to Jakarta.

He said Peko told Nang that a woman, identified as Yanti, would pick
up the bag at the airport. Yanti is still at large.

He said the defendant was charged under the Law No. 22/1997 on
narcotics. The law carries a maximum penalty of death for a conviction
for heroin trafficking.

Nang, through her interpreter from the Embassy of Thailand Ibrahim
Afandi, said she was a farmer but worked at a nightclub.

The mother of two said that she was forced to work at the nightclub to
earn additional income to support her children and mother.

She said she became acquainted with Peko in the nightclub and he later
became her boyfriend.