Former U.S. college basketball player Jarred Shaw could face the death penalty in Indonesia after his arrest Thursday for allegedly smuggling cannabis candy drugs.
The 34-year-old played for Oklahoma State and Utah State before enjoying a brief stint in the NBA’s minor G-League.
The world’s biggest Muslim-majority country has extremely strict drug laws and convicted smugglers are sometimes executed by firing squad, CNN reports.
Shaw, from Dallas, Texas, was arrested May 7, after police raided his apartment in Tangerang regency, just outside the capital, Jakarta.
Authorities seized 132 pieces of cannabis candies, said Ronald Sipayung, the Soekarno-Hatta Airport police chief, per the CNN report. The outlet continues:
The arrest followed a tip from the airport’s customs that reported Shaw had received a suspicious airway package from Thailand, Sipayung said. Cannabis has been decriminalized in Thailand since November 2024. Under Indonesia’s anti-drug laws, Shaw faces up to life sentence or death penalty if found guilty, Sipayung said.
A video circulating on social media purportedly showed Shaw, wearing a black T-shirt and shorts, resisting as he’s being pushed away by police and shouting “Help … help!” when he was about to be arrested.
The suspect candy reportedly contained a total gross weight of 30.6 ounces of illegal cannabinoid inside a package.
The 20 packs of “Vita Bites” were sent from Bangkok and addressed to Shaw’s Casa De Parco Apartment, Gardenia Tower, Sipayung said, according to the Independent Observer.
Shaw has played for several clubs in the Indonesian Basketball League since 2022 and joined the Tangerang Hawks last year.
CNN reports he told police during interrogation he wanted to share the cannabis candy with fellow basketball players, according to Sipayung.
Shaw was issued a lifetime ban by the Indonesian Basketball League and was fired by the Hawks in the immediate aftermath of his arrest and charge.
Indonesia’s last executions, of an Indonesian and three foreigners, were carried out in July 2016. Ninety-six foreigners are among the country’s death row population.
