American basketball participant may face firing squad in Indonesiaafter allegedly attempting to smuggle in hashish gummies | EUROtoday

An American basketball participant may probably face a firing squad in Indonesia after receiving a bundle of THC-infused sweet from Thailand.

Former U.S. school basketball star Jarred Dwayne Shaw, 34, from Dallas, Texas, has performed within the Indonesian League since 2022.

He was arrested May 7 when police raided his condominium in Cisauk, Tangerang Regency, simply outdoors the Indonesian capital of Jakarta.

They seized 132 items of Delta 9 THC hashish candies, authorities mentioned.

Indonesia has extraordinarily strict drug legal guidelines, with a life sentence or dying by firing squad prospects if Shaw is discovered responsible. Cannabis has been decriminalized in Thailand since November 2024 however it’s strictly unlawful in Indonesia.

Officers from Soekarno-Hatta Airport Police carried out the raid on suspicion that Shaw was smuggling medicine after a bundle addressed to him arrived from Thailand and was flagged on the airport, in line with authorities.

Ronald Sipayung, the Soekarno-Hatta Airport police chief, mentioned Shaw instructed police throughout an interrogation that he meant to share the hashish sweet together with his teammates.

He added that the sweet contained a complete gross weight of 869 grams (30.6 ounces) of unlawful cannabinoid, mentioned Sipayung.

“We are still running the investigation to uncover the international drugs network behind this case and to stop its distribution,” Sipayung mentioned.

The Associated Press stories {that a} video circulating on social media purportedly confirmed Shaw, carrying a black T-shirt and shorts, resisting and shouting “Help … help!” as he was about to be arrested.

Shaw didn’t converse when he was offered by the authorities at a information convention on Wednesday. He was carrying an orange detainee T-shirt and a masks, and his arms have been tied.

At school stage within the U.S., he performed for Oklahoma State and Utah State. Since becoming a member of the Indonesian basketball league in 2022, Shaw has performed for a number of golf equipment, signing a contract with the Tangerang Hawks final 12 months.

Club supervisor, Tikky Suwantikno, instructed reporters on Thursday that the staff regretted Shaw’s actions and he had instantly been fired as he had breached his contract. Somewhat incongruously, the staff’s official Instagram account posted an image of Shaw with the phrases “Thank You” superimposed.

In addition, the Indonesian Basketball League banned Shaw for all times. It’s chair, Budisatrio Djiwandono, mentioned: “We don’t tolerate players, administrators, or anyone in the field involved in drugs. There is no room for drug users in the basketball world,” Djiwandono mentioned.

Shaw’s arrest attracts quick comparisons to the case of WNBA star Brittney Griner, who was taken into custody in Russia after hashish oil vape cartridges have been discovered inside her baggage in February 2022 at a Moscow airport.

She was later sentenced to 9 years in a Russian jail earlier than being launched as a part of a prisoner-exchange swap with the U.S. in December 2022. There is a moratorium on capital punishment in Russia. No executions have taken place since 1996, and drug offenses have been by no means eligible for such punishment within the nation.

Despite having a few of the strictest drug legal guidelines on this planet, Indonesia is a significant drug smuggling hub, in line with the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime. This is claimed to be partly as a result of worldwide drug syndicates goal the nation’s younger inhabitants.

There are at present about 530 folks on dying row in Indonesia, principally for drug-related crimes, together with 96 foreigners.

Indonesia’s final executions have been carried out in July 2016, when an Indonesian and three Nigerian residents have been put to dying for drug crimes. Another 10 have been scheduled to be executed however got an surprising reprieve.