Jarred Shaw to face death penalty in Indonesia over drug smuggling charges?

US basketball player, Jarred Dwayne Shaw was arrested in May 2025 for having cannabis candies in his apartment

Jarred Shaw to face death penalty in Indonesia over drug smuggling charges?
Jarred Shaw to face death penalty in Indonesia over drug smuggling charges?

Jarred Dwayne Shaw, an American basketball player for the Indonesia league was arrested for allegedly attempting to smuggle illegal drugs to the country.

The Dallas native was detained on May 7 after police raided his apartment just outside the country's capital Jakarta.

According to Ronald Sipayung, the Soekarno-Hatta Airport police chief, the authorities found 132 pieces of cannabis candies during his arrest.

The raid followed a tip from the airport's customs that reported that Jarred had received a suspicious airway package from Thailand.

Indonesia and drug laws

The Southeast Asian country has extremely strict drug laws and convicted criminal can be executed by firing squad.

Cannabis has been decriminalised in Thailand since 2022, however Indonesia still holds strict anti-drug laws, under which the 34-year-old player could face lifetime prison or the death penalty if found guilty.

Jarred Dwayne Shaw basketball career

Jarred has played for several clubs in the Indonesia Basketball League since 2022, and signed a contract with Tangerang Hawks last year.

During interrogation, the athlete shared that he wanted to share the candies with fellow basketball players.

The Tangerang Hawks' manager Tikky Suwantikno shared with the press that the team feel regretful by Jarred's actions and have fired him from the club as he had breached his contract.

Despite having one of the strictest anti-drug rules, Indonesia is major drug-smuggling hub and around 530 people are on death row in the country, mostly for drug related crimes, including 96 foreigners.

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