A former college basketball player is accused of trying to smuggle drugs into Indonesia and could face the death penalty, authorities announced on Thursday.
Jarred Dwayne Shaw, 34, of Dallas, who had a brief stint in the NBA’s G League and played for the Tangerang Hawk of the Indonesian Basketball League last season, was arrested in Jakarta on May 7, authorities announced on Thursday.
The forward, who played college basketball at Oklahoma State (2009-11) and Utah State (2012-14), was arrested at his apartment in Indonesia’s capital after police said they found 132 pieces of cannabis candies called Delta 9 THC.
Jarred Shaw, Dallas native and basketball player in Indonesia, could face death penalty over cannabis candyhttps://t.co/FkAzM5cZhW
— CBS News Texas (@CBSNewsTexas) May 15, 2025
The arrest came after a tip from Soekarno-Hatta Airport customs officials, who said that Shaw had received a suspicious airway package from Thailand, airport Police chief Ronald Sipayung told reporters.
Cannabis has been decriminalized in Thailand since November 2024, but under Indonesia’s strict anti-drug laws, Shaw faces up to a life sentence in prison or the death penalty if found guilty, Sipayung said.
“An offense involving candies containing Delta 9 THC (tetrahydrocannabinol) implicating basketball athlete JDS was handled by the Narcotics Unit of Soekarno-Hatta Airport Police,” Sipayung said.
Shaw did not comment when he was presented by Indonesian authorities at a news conference on May 14. He wore a detainee orange T-shirt and a mask with his hands tied.
Hawk manager Tikky Suwantikno told reporters that Shaw was fired by the club due to breach of contract. The player was also banned by the Indonesian Basketball League.
“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.”
About 530 people are on death row in Indonesia, mostly for drug-related crimes, the Ministry of Immigration and Corrections’ data showed. Indonesia’s last executions, of an Indonesian and three foreigners, were carried out in July 2016, according to The Associated Press.
Shaw attended Carter High School in Dallas, where he was District 11-4A defensive player of the Year as a senior, according to a biography on the Utah State athletics website.
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