A Malaysian citizen, Hew Kok Seong, has been deported after being imprisoned for ten years at Kerobokan prison, Badung, Bali.
Head of the Regional Office of the Bali Province Ministry of Law and Human Rights, Anggiat Napitulu, explained that Seong was deported because he violated article 75 paragraph (1) of law number 6/2011 on immigration in conjunction with article 113 paragraph (2) of law number 35/2009 on narcotics.
Seong was arrested by customs officers at the arrival hall of I Gusti Ngurah Rai International Airport on 19th March 2012 for smuggling 169 grammes of crystal methamphetamine, hidden in the cavity of his suitcase.
He brought the methamphetamine to Indonesia from Thailand using a visa-free facility and was aboard AirAsia flight number D3677.
Seong confirmed that he worked as a construction worker in Kuala Lumpur. he got an offer to work in Indonesia for one year with a salary of 100 US dollars or the equivalent of Rp1,494,600. he accepted the offer and flew to Indonesia via Thailand, carrying a suitcase that contained methamphetamine.
After being released on 6th July 2022, the prison locally known as “Hotel K” handed over Seong to the Immigration Office Class I Special Immigration Checkpoint Ngurah Rai for further action.
However, Seong could not be deported immediately because his passport had expired during his sentence, so he has been detained in the Immigration Detention Centre since 22th July 2022.
After being detained for several days, Seong was finally deported on Friday, 5th August 2022 after immigration authorities in Malaysia issued a temporary travel document in lieu of a passport.
Two immigration officers in Denpasar accompanied Seong during the deportation process from I Gusti Ngurah Rai International Airport using Malindo Air to Kuala Lumpur on flight number OD305.
Anggiat Napitulu also said that, currently, Seong has been added to the deterrence list so that if approved by the Directorate General of Immigration, he cannot enter Indonesian territory.
“Further deterrence decisions are made by the Directorate General of Immigration by looking at and considering all cases,” he concluded.