Chinese drug trafficker on death row in Indonesia escapes from prison through sewers
- Cai Changpan was sentenced to death in 2017 for trafficking 135kg (298lb) of crystal meth to Indonesia
- He dug a hole from his prison cell into waste pipes and on to a road outside in Jakarta’s Tangerang area. He is now on Indonesia’s most wanted list
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Cai Changpan, 37, who was convicted of methamphetamine smuggling, dug a hole from his cell at the prison in the Tangerang area into waste pipes and on to a road outside, Jakarta police spokesman Yusri Yunus told reporters.
According to a cell mate, he had planned the September 14 escape for five to six months using tools from a construction project in the prison kitchen, Yunus said.
Indonesia Directorate General of Prisons spokeswoman Rika Aprianti told media the trafficker, who also uses the name Cai Ji Fan, had timed his escape to the changing of the guards.
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According to Indonesian news website detik.com, he was sentenced to death in 2017 for trafficking 135kg (298lb) of crystal methamphetamine.
A police investigation found 70kg (154lb) of meth hidden in chicken coop cleaner equipment.
“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.
No lawyer or representative for Cai was immediately reachable for comment.
Police put him on their most wanted list.
