An Australian man is facing the death penalty or life imprisonment in Indonesia after being arrested in Bali on suspicion of drug trafficking, authorities said Monday.
The 43-year-old from Sydney, Australia was detained last Thursday following a police raid on his rented house near Kuta Beach. Bali’s police chief, Daniel Adityajaya, said officers seized 1.700 grams of cocaine, a digital scale, and a mobile phone from the property.
“He is suspected of importing or distributing class 1 narcotics,” Adityajaya said during a press conference in Denpasar. “He is threatened with the death penalty or life imprisonment.”
The man, whose name has not been released, was paraded before reporters in handcuffs, an orange detainee jumpsuit, and a black balaclava. He did not make a statement.
Mail delivery plot alleged
According to police, the arrest followed an investigation by Bali’s anti-narcotics surveillance teams, who reported that the man had received two suspicious packages shipped from the United Kingdom.
Authorities allege that on 21 May, the suspect hired a motorcycle taxi driver through the Grab ride-hailing app to retrieve the packages from a post office in Denpasar. That driver was then instructed to pass the items to a second courier from a different service, who delivered them to the man’s rented home.
Police did not reveal the contents of the packages retrieved from the post office but said they were part of the evidence trail leading to the arrest.
Australian government responds
A spokesperson for Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade confirmed consular assistance was being provided to a national detained in Bali.
“Owing to our privacy obligations we are unable to provide further comment,” the spokesperson said.
Indonesia enforces some of the harshest drug laws in the world. The country’s courts routinely hand down lengthy prison terms or death sentences for trafficking offenses.
The arrest has revived memories of the Bali Nine case, when a group of Australians was arrested in 2005 for attempting to smuggle heroin out of the island. Two of the group’s ringleaders, Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran, were executed by firing squad in 2015, prompting a sharp deterioration in diplomatic relations between Jakarta and Canberra.
The last five members of the Bali Nine serving life sentences in Indonesia were repatriated to Australia in December. They have not been pardoned and are permanently barred from reentering Indonesia.
