US national cultivates marijuana in Indonesia apartment, arrested

The Indonesian police said on Thursday that they have arrested a US national for growing marijuana plants and processing them in an apartment in the country's capital. The 35-year-old man with the initials LAC, brought the seed of the plants from the US and grew them in the apartment located in the heart of the city by using electrical light, said Senior Commissioner Krisno Siregar, Vice Director of the narcotics division of the police.

The officer said the police also found four marijuana plants in the apartment of the US citizen, who worked as a fitness trainer in Jakarta. Two plastic bags containing dried marijuana leaf and stems weighing 30 and 74 grams were also seized, Xinhua news agency reported. Growing marijuana is against the Indonesian narcotic law and carries a maximum penalty of 12 years in prison, according to the police.

Indonesia has been fighting against drug abuse, with dozens of drug offenders, including foreigners, having been sentenced to death.