Jakarta, Indonesia
AP
–
An American basketball player from the Indonesian League has been arrested on suspicion of allegedly attempting to smuggle illegal drugs into the country, police said Thursday.
Southeast Asian countries have very strict drug laws, and convicted smugglers are sometimes executed by firing squads.
Dwayne Shaw, 34, from Dallas, Texas, was arrested on May 7 after police attacked an apartment in the Tangerang Regency, just outside the capital Jakarta, seized 132 cannabis candies, said Ronald Sipayun, the chief of Socarnohata Airport Police.
The arrest followed hints from the airport’s habits that Shoe reported receiving a suspicious airway package from Thailand, Sipayong said. Cannabis has been decriminalized in Thailand since November 2024. Under Indonesia’s anti-drug law, Shaw faces life sentence or death penalty if convicted, Sipayun said.
Videos circulating on social media say that Show wore a black T-shirt and shorts and resisted him pushing out by the police to scream “Help me…help!” When he was about to be arrested.
Shaw has played for several clubs in the Indonesian Basketball League since 2022 and signed a contract with Tangerang Hawk last year. During his questioning, he told police that Shipayon said he wanted to share cannabis candy with fellow basketball players.
He said the candy contains a total weight of 869 grams (30.6 ounces) of illegal cannabinoids in the package.
“We are still conducting research to uncover the international drug network behind this case and to stop its distribution,” Sipayun said.
The show did not make a statement when he was wearing an orange T-shirt and mask of a detainee whose hands were tied up when he issued a statement by authorities at a press conference Wednesday.
Tangerang Hawks manager Ticky Swantychno told reporters Thursday that he regretted what was done by the show and that the club fired him immediately when it breached the contract.
Indonesia’s Basketball League has banned the show from playing for life, its chairman, Budisatrio Doziwandon, said.
“We don’t tolerate any player, manager or anyone in the field of drug involvement. There is no space for drug users in the basketball world,” says Djiwandono.
The United Nations Office of Drugs and Crime says Indonesia is a major drug-dense hub despite having some of the world’s strictest drug laws.
About 530 people are on death row in Indonesia, with data from the Ministry of Immigration Corrections showing due to drug-related crimes, mainly 96 foreigners. Indonesia’s last execution was held in July 2016, with Indonesians and three foreigners.
