Ex-college basketball star faces death sentence for allegedly smuggling drugs into Indonesia
A former college basketball player could face the death penalty after he was arrested for allegedly attempting to smuggle drugs into Indonesia.
Jarred Shaw, 34, played for Oklahoma State and Utah State before a brief stint in the NBA's minor G-League.
But he was reportedly arrested this week in the Indonesian capital Jakarta after police intercepted a parcel sent from Thailand containing 132 cannabis 'candies'.
Police chief Ronald FC Sipayung said: 'An offense involving candies containing Delta 9 THC (tetrahydrocannabinol) implicating basketball athlete JDS (Jarred Dwayne Shaw) was handled by the Narcotics Unit of Soekarno-Hatta Airport Police.'
Sipayung added that if the Dallas-born Shaw was found guilty he could face a life sentence or the death penalty, according to USA Today.
Local news source Bola.com said Shaw had admitted ordering the drugs from a friend and intended to distribute some to other basketball players in Indonesia.
Michael Tandayu the head of the airport police narcotics unit, said Shaw would be charged 'in connection with the alleged occurrence of criminal acts in terms of acts of offering for sale, selling, buying, acting as an intermediary in buying and selling, exchanging, handing over, or receiving narcotics'.
The charges are said to carry a minimum prison sentence of six years. Indonesia executed convicted drug offenders by firing squad as recently as 2016.
In December last year there were around 530 people on death row in Indonesia, mostly for drug-related crimes, including 96 foreigners, according to data from the Ministry of Immigration and Corrections.
Shaw was playing in Indonesia for the Tangerang Hawks but, according to the Indonesian Basketball League (IBL), his 'contract with the Hawks officially ended due to a violation of the contract article between the player and the club'.
Hawks manager Tikky Suwantikno said: 'We take this matter very seriously and deeply regret the violation of the law committed by Jarred Shaw.'
Budisatrio Djiwandono, the chairman of the Indonesian Basketball Association, added: 'We do not tolerate drug use in basketball. Whether players, officials, court personnel or anyone involved with narcotics or similar substances... PERBASI fully entrusts this matter to law enforcement.'
The CEO of the IBL Junas Miradiarsyah said: 'The IBL together with the Indonesian Basketball Association will enforce a blacklist, banning violators from participating or engaging in any activities within the IBL.'
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