INDONESIA: MAN SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR TRAFFICKING ECSTASY PILLS

September 10, 2025:

A North Sumatra court on September 4, 2025 sentenced 36-year-old M. Alfarisi to death for acting as a courier in the trafficking of nearly 4,833 ecstasy pills.
"We sentence the defendant, M. Alfarisi, to death," declared Presiding Judge Frans Effendi Manurung, accompanied by Judges Cipto Hosari Nababan and Vera Yetti Magdalena, at Medan District Court.
Alfarisi, a resident of Lhokseumawe, Aceh Province, was convicted of transporting Class I non-plant narcotics exceeding five grams — violating Article 114(2) of the Narcotics Law No. 35/2009 and Article 55(1) of the Criminal Code.
The judges cited aggravating factors, noting that Alfarisi’s actions undermined state efforts against drug trafficking, threatened public safety, and endangered young people. No mitigating circumstances were identified.
Alfarisi has seven days to decide whether to accept the verdict or file an appeal.
Prosecutors from the Belawan District Attorney’s Office had sought the death penalty, charging that Alfarisi agreed to deliver the ecstasy for Rp30 million.
He was arrested on December 21, 2024, after accepting a bag of pills from an accomplice. Police seized 4,833 tablets weighing nearly 1.9 kilograms.