An American basketball player could potentially face a firing squad in Indonesia after receiving a package of THC-infused candy from Thailand.
Former U.S. college basketball star Jarred Dwayne Shaw, 34, from Dallas, Texas, has played in the Indonesian League since 2022.
He was arrested May 7 when police raided his apartment in Cisauk, Tangerang Regency, just outside the Indonesian capital of Jakarta.
They seized 132 pieces of Delta 9 THC cannabis candies, authorities said.
Indonesia has extremely strict drug laws, with a life sentence or death by firing squad possibilities if Shaw is found guilty. Cannabis has been decriminalized in Thailand since November 2024 but it’s strictly illegal in Indonesia.
Officers from Soekarno-Hatta Airport Police carried out the raid on suspicion that Shaw was smuggling drugs after a package addressed to him arrived from Thailand and was flagged at the airport, according to authorities.
Ronald Sipayung, the Soekarno-Hatta Airport police chief, said Shaw told police during an interrogation that he intended to share the cannabis candy with his teammates.
He added that the candy contained a total gross weight of 869 grams (30.6 ounces) of illegal cannabinoid, said Sipayung.
“We are still running the investigation to uncover the international drugs network behind this case and to stop its distribution,” Sipayung said.
The Associated Press reports that a video circulating on social media purportedly showed Shaw, wearing a black T-shirt and shorts, resisting and shouting “Help … help!” as he was about to be arrested.
Shaw did not speak when he was presented by the authorities at a news conference on Wednesday. He was wearing an orange detainee T-shirt and a mask, and his hands were tied.
At college level in the U.S., he played for Oklahoma State and Utah State. Since joining the Indonesian basketball league in 2022, Shaw has played for several clubs, signing a contract with the Tangerang Hawks last year.
Club manager, Tikky Suwantikno, told reporters on Thursday that the team regretted Shaw’s actions and he had immediately been fired as he had breached his contract. Somewhat incongruously, the team’s official Instagram account posted a picture of Shaw with the words “Thank You” superimposed.
In addition, the Indonesian Basketball League banned Shaw for life. It’s chair, Budisatrio Djiwandono, said: “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 said.
Shaw’s arrest draws immediate comparisons to the case of WNBA star Brittney Griner, who was taken into custody in Russia after cannabis oil vape cartridges were found inside her luggage in February 2022 at a Moscow airport.
She was later sentenced to nine years in a Russian prison before being released as 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 were never eligible for such punishment in the country.
Despite having some of the strictest drug laws in the world, Indonesia is a major drug smuggling hub, according to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime. This is said to be partly because international drug syndicates target the country’s young population.
There are currently about 530 people on death row in Indonesia, mostly for drug-related crimes, including 96 foreigners.
Indonesia’s last executions were carried out in July 2016, when an Indonesian and three Nigerian citizens were put to death for drug crimes. Another 10 were scheduled to be executed but were given an unexpected reprieve.