Connect with us

Hi, what are you looking for?

World

Chinese death-row inmate digs tunnel to escape Indonesian jail

-

A Chinese drug trafficker on death row escaped from a jail near Indonesia's capital after digging a 30-metre (100 feet) tunnel from his cell, police said.

Cai Ji Fan, sentenced to death in 2017 for trafficking 110 kilogrammes (230 pounds) of methamphetamine, broke out of Tangerang prison in Banten last week via the narrow tunnel, which connected to a sewer, officials said.

"This is the second time he escaped," said Tangerang police's chief Sugeng Hariyanto, adding he also managed to get out of the National Police Criminal Investigation Department cells in Jakarta while on remand.

Officials said Cai had invited his cellmate to join him, but he had declined.

Authorities said they had recovered a crowbar, chisel, screwdriver and other tools used to dig the hole, speculating he may have got them from building work being done on a prison kitchen.

Cai's first escape was in January 2017 via a hole he made in a bathroom wall using an iron rod.

Along with other prisoners, he then climbed a 2.5-metre (eight-feet) wall, but was recaptured in West Java three days later.

Although rare by foreigners, jailbreaks are common in Indonesia, where most prisons are overcrowded and poorly staffed.

In 2018, some 90 inmates escaped a prison in Banda Aceh after tearing down a fence during a prayer gathering.

A year earlier more than 400 inmates broke out of an overcrowded prison in Riau province.

Also in 2017, four foreigners dug their way to freedom from Bali's notorious Kerobokan jail.

A Bulgarian and Indian were captured in East Timor a week later, but an Australian and Malaysian were never found.

A Chinese drug trafficker on death row escaped from a jail near Indonesia’s capital after digging a 30-metre (100 feet) tunnel from his cell, police said.

Cai Ji Fan, sentenced to death in 2017 for trafficking 110 kilogrammes (230 pounds) of methamphetamine, broke out of Tangerang prison in Banten last week via the narrow tunnel, which connected to a sewer, officials said.

“This is the second time he escaped,” said Tangerang police’s chief Sugeng Hariyanto, adding he also managed to get out of the National Police Criminal Investigation Department cells in Jakarta while on remand.

Officials said Cai had invited his cellmate to join him, but he had declined.

Authorities said they had recovered a crowbar, chisel, screwdriver and other tools used to dig the hole, speculating he may have got them from building work being done on a prison kitchen.

Cai’s first escape was in January 2017 via a hole he made in a bathroom wall using an iron rod.

Along with other prisoners, he then climbed a 2.5-metre (eight-feet) wall, but was recaptured in West Java three days later.

Although rare by foreigners, jailbreaks are common in Indonesia, where most prisons are overcrowded and poorly staffed.

In 2018, some 90 inmates escaped a prison in Banda Aceh after tearing down a fence during a prayer gathering.

A year earlier more than 400 inmates broke out of an overcrowded prison in Riau province.

Also in 2017, four foreigners dug their way to freedom from Bali’s notorious Kerobokan jail.

A Bulgarian and Indian were captured in East Timor a week later, but an Australian and Malaysian were never found.

AFP
Written By

With 2,400 staff representing 100 different nationalities, AFP covers the world as a leading global news agency. AFP provides fast, comprehensive and verified coverage of the issues affecting our daily lives.

You may also like:

Tech & Science

Don’t be too surprised to see betting agencies getting involved in questions like this: “Would you like to make billions on new tech?” is...

World

Schools in Souffelweyersheim locked down after an assailant lightly wounded two girls - Copyright IRANIAN STATE TV (IRIB)/AFP -A 14-year-old girl has died of...

Tech & Science

A growing wave of ‘firetech’ companies and related technologies – from drones to AI to robots – are being deployed across Canada. Is the...

Business

Image: - ©AFP Wakil KOHSARA group of advanced economies have pledged $11 billion in new funding commitments to boost the World Bank’s lending capacity...