Call Britney Griner? Former Utah State Star Jarred Shaw Could Face Death For Smuggling Weed Into Indonesia

Former college basketball star Jarred Shaw was recently arrested in Indonesia on drug smuggling charges, and he is now facing a potential death penalty sentence. 

The former Oklahoma State and Utah State big man was arrested on May 7 at the Soekarno-Hatta Airport, where he was caught by police officers with 132 pieces of marijuana candy, which weighed 30 ounces. 

This was Shaw's third year playing professional basketball for the Indonesian Basketball Association, and he picked a horrible way to receive the drugs, which is a very big deal to the Indonesian government. Police officers had actually raided his apartment, which was located in the Tangerang Regency, which is just west of the capital city of Jakarta. 

One of the major issues for the American is the way he went about trying to attain marijuana-type edibles. Indonesian authorities say that they received a tip from the customs department at the airport, noting that Shaw had received an airway package from Thailand that was deemed suspicious, and then they raided his apartment. 

While cannabis is legal in Thailand, it's a major crime in Indonesia, hence the press that covered a media gathering this week, where Shaw was seen walking out in front of cameras and standing with his back facing towards a government backdrop. According to Indonesian drug laws, Jarred Shaw could face up to life in prison, or the death penalty for his arrest. 

In the video below, which allegedly shows Jarred Shaw being arrested, and then brought out in front of local media, you can see him in an orange shirt as authorities discuss the incident. 

If this reminds you of the Brittney Griner situation, you wouldn't be that far off. Unfortunately for Jarred Shaw, this will not make the evening news for weeks on end, and there is only so much his family can do right now. 

While playing in Indonesia, Shaw has been on a number of different teams, his last being the Tangerang Hawks this past year. Also, the basketball star did not help himself when he reportedly told authorities that he was hoping to share the cannabis candy with his fellow teammates, which I'd imagine they did not appreciate given the circumstances. 

The Tangerang Hawks immediately terminated his deal, firing him for breach of contract. Also, the Indonesia Basketball Association has banned Jarred Shaw for life, looking to put distance between themselves and the former college star. 

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

Indonesian Basketball Association Certainly Not Helping Jarred Shaw

Ok, I understand that the league doesn't want to get involved in this mess, but please don't throw around the ‘basketball world’ when talking about marijuana use. Right now in the NBA, the league has seemingly turned a blind eye to the use of marijuana, so lumping in the entire basketball ‘world’ is pretty broad. 

Just say that you don't want the Indonesian government breathing down your backside because one of your players was caught with some weed. 

Also, to be fair, that's not really a lot of cannabis ‘candy’ for a single person, especially if you're going to be living in the country for a long period of time. So, they are really sticking to the ‘smuggling part’ because of Jarred Shaw receiving this through an airway mode. 

Jarred Shaw #15 of the Santa Cruz Warriors drives to the basket against the Texas Legends during an NBA D-League game on December 5, 2015 in Santa Cruz, California. (Photo by Ariel Nava/NBAE via Getty)

Despite having some of the most stringent drug laws in the world, Indonesia is a massive hub for smuggling, so maybe the country should get its own house in order before trying to act all high and mighty to the rest of us. I'm just being honest. 

Jarred Shaw does not deserve to spend the rest of his life in prison over some marijuana edibles, and most certainly doesn't deserve to die. So, let's hope that some cooler heads prevail, and maybe the U.S. government can do some back-channel negotiating like it did with Brittney Griner and help the guy out. 

I'm not saying he doesn't deserve to be punished for his stupidity of ‘smuggling’ weed into the country, but let's take a deep breath before we start going crazy with talk of him potentially facing the death penalty for some marijuana.