Indonesia sentences two Thai nationals for smuggling nearly two tons of methamphetamine

By Yudi Saputra

BATAM, Indonesia, March 6 (Reuters) – An Indonesian court on Friday sentenced one Thai national to life in prison and another to 17 years for smuggling nearly two tons of methamphetamine, in one of the country’s biggest drug busts in years.

Here are some details about the verdicts:

* Weerapat Phongwan was sentenced to life in prison foracting as an intermediary and overseeing drug distribution, ajudge said. * Teerapong Lekpradub got 17 years in jail after being foundguilty of acting as an intermediary in the sale and purchase ofthe drugs, the judge said. * Both defendants and four Indonesians were arrested byIndonesian police in May last year after the fishing boat theywere aboard was found to be carrying 67 boxes ofmethamphetamine, weighing nearly 2 tons, court documentsshowed.  * The drugs were wrapped in tea bags, footage of a policeexpose showed. * They were arrested in the waters of Karimun, Riau Islandsprovince, near Singapore.  * The same court on Thursday sentenced another defendantFandi Ramadhan to five years in jail. * The court will issue a verdict for the other threedefendants next week. * The case went viral on social media after Ramadhan’sfamily asked President Prabowo Subianto to intervene and freehim. * The drugs were smuggled from Phuket, Thailand and believedto be sourced from an international network operating inThailand, Myanmar, and Laos, local media reported. * Indonesia has strict drug laws and in 2015 it executed twoAustralians in the Bali Nine drug ring for attempting to smuggleheroin out of the resort island of Bali.

(Reporting by Yudi Saputra and Ananda Teresia; Editing by Sharon Singleton)