Former Utah State Basketball Player Jarred Shaw Could Face Execution By Firing Squad After Reportedly Being Arrested With Marijuana Candy In Indonesia

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Fox News – Jarred Shaw, a 34-year-old basketball player in the Indonesian Basketball League, was arrested after allegedly attempting to smuggle illegal drugs into the country, police said Thursday.

Indonesia's strict drug laws have Shaw potentially facing a life sentence and even the death penalty if he's found guilty. Convicted smugglers have been executed by firing squad in the past.

Ronald Sipayung, police chief at Soekarno-Hatta Airport, said authorities raided Shaw's apartment just outside the country's capital of Jakarta, where they seized 132 pieces of cannabis candy.

A tip came from airport customs saying Shaw received a "suspicious airway package from Thailand." While cannabis has been decriminalized in Thailand, it remains illegal in Indonesia

Time and score. Coaches preach it all the time. It seems so obvious when you're watching a game on television. The clock is right there on the screen. Yet there's a shocking amount of players who even in the most crucial moments of the game will make an unforced stupid decision with the ball, or commit an ill-advised foul because they didn't have time and score correct in their heads. You gotta know time and score on the basketball court, and you gotta know time and score when you want to get high. When you're living in Indonesia, a country known to have some of the strictest drug laws in the world, that is unequivocally NOT the time to run the "order a box of 132 cannabis candies to your apartment" play. 

Jarred Shaw was really dumb for risking life in prison and possible execution by firing squad. But at the same time… maybe chill the fuck out a bit, Indonesia? 

However, Hawks manager Tikky Suwantikno told reporters Thursday Shaw was immediately let go due to breach of contract. The league has also banned him from playing. 

"We don't tolerate players, administrators or anyone in the field involved in drugs," Indonesian Basketball League Chair Budisatrio Djiwandono said. "There is no room for drug users in the basketball world."

That quote from the chair of the Indonesian Basketball League is just unequivocally not true. Seemingly the entire NBA (the pinnacle of the basketball world) smokes weed nowadays. It's not even a don't ask, don't tell policy. The NBA legitimately came to an agreement with the player's union that states players are allowed to smoke marijuana. The NBA has LeBron James, the pinnacle of the pinnacle of the basketball world, galavanting around the court passing imaginary blunts to his teammates during nationally television games. 

I know it's their country, and it's on non-citizens like Jarred Shaw to abide by Indonesia's laws. But marijuana is being legalized in so many countries… I'm not saying Indonesia should make it legal themselves. I'm not even saying they shouldn't punish it harshly. But maybe mowing people down in the street with sub machine guns is a little bit of an out dated policy? It's Indonesia's prerogative to enforce whatever laws they deem fit to keep their country safe, but that's just too harsh. It would be one thing if their strict drug laws were actively making their country a safer place. But Indonesia's whole "death to weed smokers" strategy doesn't necessarily seem to be yielding great results. 

NY Post – Indonesia is considered a major hub in the global drug smuggling operation, despite the harsh penalties for convicted criminals.

“Indonesia’s border weaknesses exacerbate the country’s vulnerability to trafficking of persons, drugs and natural resources, as well as smuggling of migrants,” the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime said.

To be fair to Indonesia, they haven't actually carried out any firing squad executions since 2016. Obviously the headlines, mine included, are going to highlight that possibility to make the story as salacious as possible. It's not a lie that Jarred Shaw being executed is on the table. But reading between the lines, it seems a bit unlikely that Jarred Shaw is killed over this. Unless Indonesia is really just saving up bodies to make one hell of a statement someday. 

ANN – Despite its seven-year streak in not executing any death row inmates, Indonesia last year issued 114 death sentences, a report by Amnesty International has found.

Eighty-six percent of last year’s death sentences were for drug-related offenses, the report found.

These findings have remained consistent with data from previous years, which revealed that judges had meted out more than 110 death sentences every year since 2020 and that an overwhelming majority of death row inmates have been sentenced for drug-related crimes.

“The last execution in Indonesia was in July 2016. Yet the judges in the country continue to hand down the death penalty on a frequent basis,” said a statement released by Amnesty International’s Indonesia office on Wednesday.

It also seems like Jarred Shaw is getting railroaded a bit by being lumped in with the "drug smugglers". The Soekarno-Hatta Airport Police Chief, Ronald Sipayung is talking like he's part of some grand operation. 

Fox News – "We are still running the investigation to uncover the international drugs network behind this case and to stop its distribution," Sipayung added. 

I know he technically fits the drug smuggling bill. But he ordered 20 packs of something called "Vita Bites". I can't find any information on exactly what Vita Bites are, but it was in total 132 pieces of weed candy. All the reports throw in that the packages contained 869 grams (or 30.6 ounces). But that's not a fair way to quantify edibles. 132 pieces of weed candy isn't an especially significant amount of weed. Considering he's in a place where any form of THC is hard to get, I'm willing to bet he was making a bulk order for himself. He ordered some drugs from country where marijuana is legal. I doubt Jarred Shaw is involved with some major drug smuggling ring that's actively contributing to Indonesia's violent crime epidemic.  

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But if I'm a member of the Tangerang Hawks (the team Jarred Shaw played for), I am NOT happy with the explanation Jarred gave to the police.

Shaw told police he wanted to share the candy with his teammates, Sipayung said.

He could have just said "friends" instead of "teammates". He didn't need to go and throw suspicion on the Tangerang Hawks entire roster. Especially considering the league's firm stance of, "There is no room for drug users in the basketball world". Now the league is probably looking at all of them as potentially dangerous potheads. If I'm a Tangerang Hawk, I'm preparing myself for a random drug test immediately. Clearly the Indonesian Basketball League wants to do whatever it takes to keep marijuana as far away from the beautiful game as possible. Even if it means sending their players to a literal chopping block. 

I have no idea what type of punishment Jarred Shaw should actually expect. I'm for some reason optimistic that he isn't going be sentenced to death by firing squad. But Indonesia does have 530 people on death row (most for drug-related offenses)

There are about 530 people on death row in Indonesia, and most of them are in prison for drug-related crimes, according to Ministry of Immigration and Corrections' data. Of that total, 96 were foreigners.

If they're really going to treat him like any other drug smuggler, maybe that's a real possibility. Or maybe he'll get off easy with life in an Indonesian prison. The drug laws really are crazy over there. The minimum sentence for drug possession is 4 years in prison, and Jarred Shaw certainly is being hit with more than a simple drug possession charge. If his game is as nice at Brittney Griner's, then ingers crossed the United States government has a dangerous Indonesian war criminal lying around that we can exchange for his return.