Sidoarjo, East Java, Dec. 7 -- An elderly drug convict from the Netherlands, Ali Tokman bin Muharram, has been released from his prison in Surabaya, East Java, ahead of his impending repatriation to his home country.

"We are executing an order from our superior to follow up on a practical arrangement between the Indonesian and the Dutch governments," Surabaya Class I Prison Head Sohibur Rachman said here on Sunday.

Rachman said that the drug convict, now aged 65 with six grandchildren, was arrested at Surabaya's Juanda International Airport over a decade ago after police found 6 kg of drugs in his baggage.

Muharram, who was then known as a cafe owner in The Hague, claimed that the bag where the drugs were found was from his acquaintanc...