Jakarta executes 2 Nigerian drug smugglers

Indonesia executes two Nigeriagns convicted of smuggling illegal drugs, with officials saying on Friday that the executions are timed to mark the U.N. anti-drugs day.

Indonesia executed two Nigeriagns convicted of smuggling illegal drugs, with officials saying on Friday that the executions were timed to mark the U.N. anti-drugs day. Samuel Okoye, 37, and Hansen Nwaolisa, 40, were arrested at Jakarta's international airport in 2001, each carrying more than 6.5 pounds (three kilograms) of heroin. They had been held at a high-security prison on Nusakambangan island since their conviction. "We have carried out the sentence, according to the court's decision," said local prosecutor Muhamad Yamin.

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The executions by firing squad took place overnight, marking the international anti-drugs day on Thursday, Indonesia's anti-narcotics agency said.

Drug traffickers are routinely sentenced to death in Indonesia, a predominantly Muslim and socially conservative nation of 235 million people, and foreigners have not been exempt. Another 60 convicts are on death row after being convicted of drug-related crimes, said National Police Chief Gen. Sutanto.