Jarred Shaw, a 34-year-old, 2.11-meter American player who was playing for the Tangerang Hawks in Indonesia, faces a tough sentence after being arrested on May 7 for having more than 100 marijuana-infused candies in his apartment. The center said it was to share with his teammates and drug trafficking in the country carries a minimum sentence of six years in prison.
In the worst case scenario, Shaw could be sentenced to life imprisonment or even the death penalty. According to data from the Ministry of Immigration and Corrections, more than 500 people are currently on death row in Indonesia, most for drug-related offences. Several traffickers were executed by firing squad, although the last time this happened was in 2016, according to Associated Press.
Police raided Shaw’s home after following a tip-off from airport customs officials, who detected a suspicious package the player had received. It contained cannabis-laced sweets, a substance that was decriminalised in Thailand, where the shipment came from, in 2024, but not in Indonesia. In fact, its drug laws are among the strictest in the world.
Banned for life in the Indonesian League
Tangerang Hawks have terminated Shaw’s contract and the Indonesian League has banned him for life. “We do not tolerate players, officials or anyone on the field using drugs. There is no place for drug users in the world of basketball,” said Budisatrio Djiwandono, president of the competition.
Shaw, a native of Dallas, played at Oklahoma State and Utah State Universities before turning professional and embarking on a career that has taken him around the world: the G League, Turkey, Tunisia, Mexico, Japan, Thailand, Uruguay, Venezuela, the Dominican Republic, Saudi Arabia, Lebanon and Indonesia, where he arrived in 2022 and had played for three teams.
Read the full article here
