bali tourist drug smuggling

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Indonesian police raid drug lab in Bali villa

Indonesian police say they have raided what they call a major drug lab hidden in a villa on the resort island of bali, and arrested four people, article bookmarked.

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Indonesian police raided what they said was a major drug lab hidden in a villa on the resort island of Bali, and arrested four people, authorities said Monday.

Police raided the house in the upscale resort area of Canggu early this month, said Wahyu Widada, head of the National Police’s Criminal Investigation Department, finding two drug labs in its basement.

He said one of the villa's labs was designed to produce the ingredients for ecstasy, and the other contained a hydroponic farm marijuana. Police were tipped off to the facility after an earlier raid on a Jakarta lab linked to Indonesia's most wanted drug lord.

Police arrested an Indonesian man identified by his initial as LM, two Ukrainian men identified as IV and MV, and a Russian man identified as KK, during the raids.

The four men could face execution. Indonesia, the world’s most populous Muslim-majority nation, has strict laws against consumption of marijuana and other drugs, even for medical treatment.

Most of the more than 150 people on Indonesia’s death row were convicted of drug crimes, about one-third of whom are foreigners. The country’s last executions were in 2016, when one Indonesian and three foreigners were shot by a firing squad.

Widada said police were tipped off to the “clandestine” labs after interrogating a suspected drug trafficker arrested in an April raids in the capital, Jakarta, on a similar lab that police say was owned by drug lord Freddy Pratama.

Widada said one of the men arrested this month, LM, was Pratama’s accountant, and was involved in operating a drug lab in Jakarta before moving to Bali to avoid arrest. He was arrested at a rented house near Kuta, a popular tourist spot, with 6 kilograms (13.2 pounds) of crystal methamphetamine.

Widada said that IV and MV arrested as investors and drug makers at the Bali labs, while KK was accused of selling drugs for them, adding that police are searching for two more dealers, Ukrainian men identified as RN and OK.

Wearing orange detainee uniforms, the suspects were paraded with their hands tied at a news conference in Denpasar, the capital of Bali province.

Police seized hundreds of kilograms (pounds) of precursor chemicals for ecstasy and equipment for growing marijuana, including ultraviolet lighting and an automatic watering system.

Last year, Indonesia’s Constitutional Court rejected a judicial review of the country’s narcotics law that would have paved the way for legalizing marijuana for medicinal use.

The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime says Indonesia is a major smuggling hub despite having some of the strictest drug laws in the world, in part because international drug syndicates target its young population.

Niniek Karmini contributed to this report from Jakarta, Indonesia.

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Breaking news, teen tourist could face execution by firing squad in bali for alleged drug smuggling.

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A teenage tourist is could face death by firing squad after allegedly smuggling drugs into Bali.

Brazilian Manuela Vitoria de Araujo Farias, 19, was found with 3kg of cocaine in her luggage after landing in Bali on January 27 but claims she was tricked into importing the drug haul by a gang.

Trafficking drugs is punishable by the death penalty in Indonesia.

Farias’ lawyer says she was only visiting the island to visit temples where monks pray for the sick, as her mother recently suffered a stroke, the Bali Times reported.

“They said that she could pray in the temples to ask for her mother’s healing,” the lawyer said.

She flew into Bali from Brazil via Qatar, but the drugs were not detected until she landed on the holiday island.

Australian tourist Jeffrey Welton, a 52-year-old surf instructor from Perth, dodged the death penalty last month after getting caught with meth and heroin .

He was sentenced to eight months in a rehab facility rather than face a firing squad.

He was arrested in September when he was found with eight grams of heroin and 0.34g of methamphetamine in a condom at Bali’s Inter­national Airport after flying in from Vietnam.

His lawyers on Tuesday successfully convinced three judges to treat Welton as an addict, rather than a drug smuggler.

Welton is now in Bali’s Anargya Sober House.

Narcotics laws in Indonesia are notoriously strict, with the amount of drugs smuggled normally earning those convicted anywhere from five years in prison to a death sentence.

Welton had been living on the tourist island periodically over the past decade.

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Indonesian police raid drug lab in Bali villa

Indonesia drug arrests.

DENPASAR, Indonesia (AP) — Indonesian police raided what they said was a major drug lab hidden in a villa on the resort island of Bali and arrested four people, authorities said Monday.

Police raided the house in the upscale resort area of Canggu early this month and found two drug labs in the basement, said Wahyu Widada, head of the National Police’s Criminal Investigation Department,

He said one of the villa's labs was designed to produce the ingredients for ecstasy, and the other contained a hydroponic farm for marijuana. Police were tipped off to the facility after an earlier raid on a Jakarta lab linked to Indonesia's most wanted drug lord.

During the raids, police arrested an Indonesian man identified by the initials LM, two Ukrainian men identified as IV and MV, and a Russian man identified as KK.

The four men could face execution. Indonesia, the world’s most populous Muslim-majority nation, has strict laws against consumption and sale of marijuana and many other drugs.

Most of the more than 150 people on Indonesia’s death row were convicted of drug crimes, about one-third of whom are foreigners. The country’s last executions were in 2016, when one Indonesian and three foreigners were shot by a firing squad.

Widada said police were tipped off to the “clandestine” labs after interrogating a suspected drug trafficker arrested in an April raid in the capital, Jakarta, on a similar lab that police say was owned by drug lord Freddy Pratama.

Widada said one of the men arrested this month, LM, was Pratama’s accountant, and was involved in operating a drug lab in Jakarta before moving to Bali to avoid arrest. He was arrested at a rented house near Kuta, a popular tourist spot, with 6 kilograms (13.2 pounds) of crystal methamphetamine.

Widada said that IV and MV were accused of being investors and drugmakers at the Bali labs, while KK was accused of selling drugs for them, adding that police are searching for two more dealers, Ukrainian men identified as RN and OK.

Wearing orange detainee uniforms, the suspects were paraded with their hands tied at a news conference in Denpasar, the capital of Bali province.

Police seized hundreds of kilograms (pounds) of precursor chemicals for ecstasy and equipment for growing marijuana, including ultraviolet lighting and an automatic watering system.

Last year, Indonesia’s Constitutional Court rejected a judicial review of the country’s narcotics law that would have paved the way for legalizing marijuana for medicinal use.

The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime says Indonesia is a major smuggling hub despite having some of the strictest drug laws in the world, in part because international drug syndicates target its young population.

Niniek Karmini contributed to this report from Jakarta, Indonesia.

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Australian man goes on trial in Indonesia for alleged drug possession on Bali

A court on the Indonesian tourist island of Bali has began the trial of an Australian man who faces up to 12 years in prison if convicted of possessing methamphetamine under the country’s tough drug laws

DENPASAR, Indonesia — A court on the Indonesian tourist island of Bali on Thursday began the trial of an Australian man who faces up to 12 years in prison if convicted of possessing methamphetamine under the country’s tough drug laws.

Troy Andrew Smith, from Port Lincoln in South Australia, was arrested on April 30 after police raided his hotel near Kuta beach, a popular tourist spot, and seized 3.15 grams (0.1 ounce) of crystal methamphetamine from his room, authorities said.

The arrest followed a tip that Smith had received a suspicious package containing toothpaste by mail from Australia.

Prosecutors at the District Court in Denpasar, Bali’s provincial capital, said he violated anti-narcotics laws that carry a penalty of up to 12 years in prison and a fine of 8 billion rupiah ($491,000).

Authorities reduced the initial charge of drug trafficking, which carries a possible death penalty, to the less serious charge of drug use after a police drug assessment team determined he was a drug user.

The 49-year-old accountant confessed to using drugs since 2020 to stop drinking alcohol, and denied being a dealer, lead prosecutor Isa Ulinnuha said.

“He was not involved in illicit narcotics trafficking, but was a narcotics abuser in the moderate category,” Ulinnuha told the court. “Therefore, we also recommend that he undergo a psychological evaluation and inpatient medical rehabilitation for at least six months in a government rehabilitation facility.”

After the charges against Smith were read, the panel of three judges adjourned the trial until June 20.

Smith’s lawyer, Ida Bagus Gumilang Galih Sakti, said he would seek to prove that Smith is a user, not a trafficker, and has no connection with any drug network.

He said his client is nervous and depressed as he faces trial.

“I’m trying to make him calm down and make him understand that he will get rehabilitation so he can return to his family as soon as possible,” he said.

Indonesia has very strict drug laws and convicted traffickers can be executed by a firing squad. More than 150 people are on death row, mostly for drug crimes, and about a third of them are foreigners.

Eighteen people convicted of drug-related offenses have been executed under current President Joko Widodo, who took office in 2014.

News | Indonesian police raid drug lab in Bali villa

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Indonesian police say they have raided what they have called a major drug lab hidden in a villa on the resort island of Bali

Police raided the house in the upscale resort area of Canggu early this month and found two drug labs in the basement, said Wahyu Widada, head of the National Police’s Criminal Investigation Department,

He said one of the villa’s labs was designed to produce the ingredients for ecstasy, and the other contained a hydroponic farm for marijuana. Police were tipped off to the facility after an earlier raid on a Jakarta lab linked to Indonesia’s most wanted drug lord.

During the raids, police arrested an Indonesian man identified by the initials LM, two Ukrainian men identified as IV and MV, and a Russian man identified as KK.

The four men could face execution. Indonesia, the world’s most populous Muslim-majority nation, has strict laws against consumption and sale of marijuana and many other drugs.

Most of the more than 150 people on Indonesia’s death row were convicted of drug crimes, about one-third of whom are foreigners. The country’s last executions were in 2016, when one Indonesian and three foreigners were shot by a firing squad.

Widada said police were tipped off to the “clandestine” labs after interrogating a suspected drug trafficker arrested in an April raid in the capital, Jakarta, on a similar lab that police say was owned by drug lord Freddy Pratama.

Widada said one of the men arrested this month, LM, was Pratama’s accountant, and was involved in operating a drug lab in Jakarta before moving to Bali to avoid arrest. He was arrested at a rented house near Kuta, a popular tourist spot, with 6 kilograms (13.2 pounds) of crystal methamphetamine.

Widada said that IV and MV were accused of being investors and drugmakers at the Bali labs, while KK was accused of selling drugs for them, adding that police are searching for two more dealers, Ukrainian men identified as RN and OK.

Wearing orange detainee uniforms, the suspects were paraded with their hands tied at a news conference in Denpasar, the capital of Bali province.

Police seized hundreds of kilograms (pounds) of precursor chemicals for ecstasy and equipment for growing marijuana, including ultraviolet lighting and an automatic watering system.

Last year, Indonesia’s Constitutional Court rejected a judicial review of the country’s narcotics law that would have paved the way for legalizing marijuana for medicinal use.

The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime says Indonesia is a major smuggling hub despite having some of the strictest drug laws in the world, in part because international drug syndicates target its young population.

——

Niniek Karmini contributed to this report from Jakarta, Indonesia.

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Brazilian teenager arrested for bringing 3.6 kg cocaine into Bali

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Brazilian teenager has been arrested in Bali for attempting to bring 3.6 kg of cocaine into the island. Manuela Vitoria De Araujo Farias, 19, could now face the death penalty.

Farias was arrested upon her arrival at I Gusti Ngurah Rai International Airport on Jan. 1 at around 3 a.m.

“The drug smuggling attempt was thwarted by the Bali airport customs. We really appreciate what customs have done,” Bali Police chief Insp. Gen Putu Jayan Danu Putra said in a press conference on Friday in Denpasar.

Airport customs officers found several plastic packages of cocaine in her two suitcases.

Farias could be charged under multiple articles of the Narcotics Law, including Article 113 on drug smuggling that carries a maximum penalty of death. 

The Bali-Nusa Tenggara Customs and Excise Office head Susila Brata said his office would continue checking incoming visitors.

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“Our officers are trying our best to thoroughly check all passengers arriving in Bali, to anticipate drug smuggling attempts,” Susila said, adding that the customs always worked together with all relevant agencies including police and the National Narcotics Agency (BNN).

Police chief Putu Jayan said that cocaine consumers were mostly foreigners because of its high price.

“As tourism starts to revive and many foreigners come, we should strengthen our cooperation in preventing drug smuggling,” he said. (dre)

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Port lincoln father troy smith facing life in bali prison over alleged smuggling of methamphetamine into the country.

Australian father facing life in jail after allegedly smuggling drugs into the country

An Australian father has been pictured for the first time since his arrest on drug charges in Bali 13 days ago.

Troy Smith, from Port Lincoln in South Australia , is accused of possessing several grams of methamphetamine sent in a parcel to his hotel room in Kuta .

WATCH THE VIDEO ABOVE: Australian father facing life in jail after allegedly smuggling drugs into Bali.

Police also now claim he smuggled an amount of crystal meth into Indonesia from Australia using a sunglasses case.

He was arrested on April 30 and is facing life in prison if found guilty.

On Monday evening the 49-year-old was pictured being marched into hospital in Denpasar after he had complained of back pain. It is not believed to be serious.

They are the first pictures of Smith since he was arrested 13 days ago.

Despite being an Adelaide Crows fan, his only words for waiting cameras were a shoutout to their crosstown rivals Port Adelaide, saying “Go the Power”.

Earlier on Monday his wife Tracy, who was also arrested but released without charge, was seen by 7NEWS cameras arriving to visit her husband for the first time since his arrest.

She responded “yes” when asked if she would continue to support her husband.

Senior Indonesian narcotics police addressed the media at their headquarters in Denpasar on Monday morning, outlining their case against the 49-year-old Australian.

Smith allegedly attempted to outrun police on the day of his arrest, with a warning shot fired into the air.

“At first he ran away maybe because he panicked,” one of his lawyers Sienny Karmana said.

She added Smith was “surprised” by the shot and “then he fell down and then the police caught him”.

Smith was expected to appear at Monday’s press conference but 7NEWS was told he had a change of heart and that he wasn’t up to it.

He has formerly worked as a fisherman and at the District Council of Lower Eyre Peninsula.

The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) said it was aware of Smith’s circumstances and is “providing consular assistance to an Australian man detained in Bali”.

- With 7NEWS

Stream free on

Brazilian tourist, 19, could face death penalty in Bali after being accused of drug smuggling

Share this article

A teenage tourist could face death by firing squad after allegedly smuggling drugs into Bali.

Brazilian Manuela Vitoria de Araujo Farias, 19, was found with 3kg of cocaine in her luggage after landing in Bali on January 27 but claims she was tricked into importing the drug haul by a gang.

Trafficking drugs is punishable by the death penalty in Indonesia.

Farias’ lawyer said she was only visiting the island to visit temples where monks pray for the sick, as her mother recently suffered a stroke, the Bali Times reported.

“They said that she could pray in the temples to ask for her mother’s healing,” the lawyer said.

She flew into Bali from Brazil via Qatar, but the drugs were not detected until she landed on the holiday island.

Australian tourist Jeffrey Welton, a 52-year-old surf instructor from Perth, dodged the death penalty last month after getting caught with meth and heroin.

He was sentenced to eight months in a rehab facility rather than face a firing squad.

He was arrested in September when he was found with 8g of heroin and 0.34g of methamphetamine in a condom at Bali’s Inter­national Airport after flying in from Vietnam.

His lawyers on Tuesday successfully convinced three judges to treat Welton as an addict, rather than a drug smuggler.

Welton is now in Bali’s Anargya Sober House.

Narcotics laws in Indonesia are notoriously strict, with the amount of drugs smuggled normally earning those convicted anywhere from five years in prison to a death sentence.

Welton had been living on the tourist island periodically over the past decade.

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Indonesia arrests 6 foreigners, including Singaporean, for trying to smuggle drugs

DENPASAR, Indonesia (AP) - Indonesian authorities said on Wednesday (Dec 18) that they have arrested six foreigners for allegedly trying to smuggle drugs onto the tourist island of Bali.

A Swiss man, a Thai man, a Singaporean woman, a Chilean man and two Hong Kong men wearing orange detainee uniforms were paraded with their feet and hands tied at a news conference in Denpasar, the capital of Bali province.

The customs spokesman for the Bali and Nusatenggara regional office, Wachid Kurniawan, said the suspects were arrested separately since last month upon arrival at the airport.

Kurniawan said the Swiss man was arrested on Nov 4 with a total of 30.04g of marijuana in his luggage. Two days later, customs officers nabbed the Thai man with 17.76g of marijuana concealed in his underwear.

He said the Singaporean woman, Ruth Tan En Yi, was captured on Nov 14 after an immigration officer found a small plastic with 0.35g of cocaine inside her passport, while the Chilean man was nabbed two weeks later with 77.26g of liquid methamphetamine in his black suitcase.

A Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman told The Straits Times that the ministry is aware of the case and the Singapore Embassy in Jakarta has been in contact with the Singaporean and next-of-kin to render consular assistance.

The Hong Kong man was arrested on Dec 4 with 3.2kg of crystal methamphetamine in his luggage, and his 19-year-old fellow Hong Kong national was captured last week with 4kg of crystal methamphetamine wrapped in four branded pet food packaging in his luggage, Kurniawan said.

Indonesia has extremely strict drug laws, and convicted smugglers are sometimes executed by firing squad.

More than 150 people are currently on death row, mostly for drug crimes. About one-third of them are foreigners.

In May, a Frenchman was sentenced to death on Lombok, an island next to Bali, for smuggling 3kg of Ecstasy before a higher court commuted his sentence to 19 years in prison.

Last month, a court in Bali sentenced two Thais to 16-year prison terms for smuggling 1kg of methamphetamine.

With additional reporting by The Straits Times

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Indonesia executes 7 foreigners for drug smuggling

April 29, 2015 / 4:10 AM EDT / AP

CILACAP, Indonesia -- Indonesia brushed aside last-minute appeals and executed eight people convicted of drug smuggling on Wednesday, although a Philippine woman was granted a stay of execution.

Attorney General Muhammad Prasetyo confirmed at a news conference hours after the deaths had been widely reported that each of the eight had been executed simultaneously at 12:35 a.m. (1735 GMT) by a 13-member firing squad. Medical teams confirmed their deaths three minutes later, he said.

"The executions have been successfully implemented, perfectly," Prasetyo said. "All worked, no misses," he said of the deaths of two Australians, four Nigerians, a Brazilian and an Indonesian man.

Prasetyo early announced that Mary Jane Fiesta Veloso had been granted a stay of execution while the Philippines investigates her case.

Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott announced that Australia will withdraw its ambassador from Jakarta in response to the executions of two Australians, Myuran Sukumaran, 33, and Andrew Chan, 31.

"These executions are both cruel and unnecessary," Abbott told reporters.

He said it was cruel because Chan and Sukumaran had spent a decade in jail before being executed and "unnecessary because both of these young Australians were fully rehabilitated while in prison."

Brazil's President Dilma Rousseff said in a statement the execution of a second Brazilian citizen in Indonesia this year "marks a serious event in the relations between the two countries."

Brazil had asked for a stay of execution for Rodrigo Gularte, 42, on humanitarian grounds because he was schizophrenic.

Prasetyo dismissed concerns that Indonesia had done long-term damage to bilateral relations through the executions.

"It's just a momentary reaction," he said. "What we're doing is carrying out court decisions."

He said that the message was "do not try to smuggle drugs in Indonesia, because we will be harsh and firm against drug-related crimes."

Michael Chan, brother of Andrew Chan, who became a Christian pastor during his decade in prison and married an Indonesian woman on Monday, reacted with anger.

"I have just lost a courageous brother to a flawed Indonesian legal system. I miss you already RIP my Little Brother," he tweeted.

In a statement, the Sukumaran and Chan families, said: "In the 10 years since they were arrested, they did all they could to make amends, helping many others. They asked for mercy, but there was none."

Mary Jane Veloso's mother, Celia, said that the stay of execution for her daughter was nothing short of a miracle.

Presidential spokesman Herminio Coloma thanked Indonesian President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo for giving due consideration to the appeal of his Philippine counterpart, Benigno Aquino III. He said the reprieve provides an opportunity for her testimony to expose how a criminal syndicate duped her into being an unwitting accomplice and courier in drug trafficking.

There were cheers from the more than 250 Veloso supporters who held a candlelight vigil outside the Indonesian Embassy in Manila.

Veloso, 30, was arrested in 2010 at the airport in the central Indonesian city of Yogyakarta, where officials discovered about 5.5 pounds of heroin hidden in her luggage.

Prasetyo said Veloso was granted a stay of execution because her alleged boss has been arrested in the Philippines, and the authorities there requested Indonesian assistance in pursuing the case.

"This delay did not cancel the execution. We just want to give a chance in relation with the legal process in the Philippines," he said.

The woman who allegedly recruited Veloso to work in Kuala Lumpur, Maria Kristina Sergio, surrendered to police in the Philippines on Monday, Deputy Police Director-General Leonardo A. Espina said.

Sukumaran and Chan requested that their bodies be flown back to Australia. Nigerian Martin Anderson chose to be buried in the West Java town of Bekasi, and fellow Nigerian Raheem Agbaje, wanted to be buried in the East Java town of Madiun where he had been a prisoner. Indonesian Zainal Abidin is to be buried in Cilacap.

The wishes of two other Nigerians -- Sylvester Obiekwe Nwolise and Okwudili Oyatanze -- as well as those of Gularte, the Brazilian, have yet to be made public.

Originally, 10 inmates were to be executed, but Frenchman Serge Atlaoui was excluded because he still had an outstanding court appeal against Jokowi's rejection of his clemency application.

The government says Atlaoui will face a firing squad alone if his appeal is rejected by the Administrative Court.

Jokowi's predecessor, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, canceled a trip to Australia this week because of growing anger over the executions. He was to give a speech at the University of Western Australian in the city of Perth on Friday on Australia's diplomatic and economic relationships with its Asia-Pacific neighbors, including Indonesia.

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A 19-year-old woman who was caught with drugs at Bali Airport has been sentenced to 11 years in prison, escaping death by firing squad as previously feared.

Brazilian teen Manuela Vitoria de Araujo Farias was charged with international drug trafficking after she was arrested over 3kg of cocaine found in her luggage in January.

Her case made headlines across the world when it was revealed she could face the maximum penalty for trafficking drugs in Indonesia; execution by firing squad or life imprisonment.

On Thursday, she was sentenced to 11 years in prison.

Her lawyer Davi Lira da Silva celebrated the outcome in a post on Instagram, adding that the young woman would also need to pay 1 billion Indonesian Rupiah ($100,500).

He told Brazilian media the sentence was a “miracle” given the country’s strict drug laws and death penalty.

Mr da Silva hoped with good behaviour the sentence would be reduced.

It was only a fortnight ago that Farias realised she would unlikely be sentenced to death .

Mr da Silva told Brazilian media the defence was relieved when prosecutors asked the court to imprison Farias for 12 years, meaning she “practically escaped both life imprisonment and the death penalty”.

He believed that if the prosecution did not ask for capital punishment, the judge would not give it.

At Thursday’s sentencing, that was confirmed.

Bali Police Chief Inspector General Putu Jayan Danu Putra had confirmed the young woman’s arrest to local media in Denpasar on January 27.

The Bali Sun reported that Farias had arrived at Bali Airport at around 3am on January 1 on a Qatar Airways flight. She had flown from Brazil to Bali via Qatar.

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“The drug smuggling attempt was thwarted by the Bali airport customs. We really appreciate what customs have done,” Chief Inspector Putra told reporters at the January 27 press conference, according to the publication.

Prosecutors had alleged she was working with a drug gang, but Mr da Silva claimed Farias, who sold lingerie and perfume for a living, was tricked into co-operating after the group told her of temples in Bali where they pray for the sick.

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• Nation & World

Indonesia arrests 5 foreigners in Bali for drug smuggling

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DENPASAR, Indonesia (AP) — Indonesian police said some of the five foreigners who have been arrested for alleged drug smuggling on the tourist island of Bali since the end of November face the death penalty if convicted.

Police paraded the citizens of Peru, Britain, China, Malaysia and Germany at a news conference Thursday in Denpasar, the capital of Bali province.

The men were arrested in five separate operations by customs and police since Nov. 30 in which 4 kilograms (8.8 pounds) of cocaine as well as marijuana, ecstasy and ketamine were seized.

Indonesia has strict drug laws and dozens of convicted smugglers are on death row. Its last executions were in July 2016, when an Indonesian and three foreigners were shot by a firing squad.

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A police statement said the 4 kilograms of cocaine was smuggled by a Peruvian citizen in the lining of his suitcase and had a value of about 10.2 billion rupiah ($700,000).

A British man was arrested for allegedly receiving nearly 31 kilograms (68 pounds) of cannabis oil in the mail and a German for allegedly trying to smuggle 2.6 kilograms (5.7 pounds) of hashish on a flight from Bangkok.

Police said the Chinese citizen was arrested with 200 ecstasy tablets and ketamine powder, and the Malaysian had small quantities of synthetic cannabis and ecstasy.

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Indonesia parades 6 foreigners arrested for drugs on Bali

Foreign suspects detained for drugs charges are escorted by Indonesian custom officers during a press conference in Bali, Indonesia, Wednesday, Dec. 18, 2019. Indonesian authorities say they have arrested six foreigners for allegedly trying to smuggle drugs onto the tourist island of Bali. The foreigners, a Swiss man, a Thai man, a Singaporean woman, a Chilean man and two Hong Kong men, wearing orange detainees uniform were paraded with their feet and hands tied, at a news conference. (AP Photo/Firdia Lisnawati)

Indonesian custom officers escort foreign suspects for drug smuggling charges in Bali, Indonesia, Wednesday, Dec. 18, 2019. Indonesian authorities say they have arrested six foreigners for allegedly trying to smuggle drugs onto the tourist island of Bali. The foreigners, a Swiss man, a Thai man, a Singaporean woman, a Chilean man and two Hong Kong men, wearing orange detainees uniform were paraded with their feet and hands tied, at a news conference.(AP Photo/Firdia Lisnawati)

Foreign suspects detained for drugs charges sit during a press conference in Bali, Indonesia, Wednesday, Dec. 18, 2019. Indonesian authorities say they have arrested six foreigners for allegedly trying to smuggle drugs onto the tourist island of Bali. The foreigners, a Swiss man, a Thai man, a Singaporean woman, a Chilean man and two Hong Kong men, wearing orange detainees uniform were paraded with their feet and hands tied, at a news conference. (AP Photo/Firdia Lisnawati)

Foreign suspects detained for drugs charges sit during a press conference in Bali, Indonesia, Wednesday, Dec. 18, 2019. Indonesian authorities say they have arrested six foreigners for allegedly trying to smuggle drugs onto the tourist island of Bali. The foreigners, a Swiss man, a Thai man, a Singaporean woman, a Chilean man and two Hong Kong men, wearing orange detainees uniform were paraded with their feet and hands tied, at a news conference.(AP Photo/Firdia Lisnawati)

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DENPASAR, Indonesia (AP) — Indonesian authorities said Wednesday that they have arrested six foreigners for allegedly trying to smuggle drugs onto the tourist island of Bali.

A Swiss man, a Thai man, a Singaporean woman, a Chilean man and two Hong Kong men wearing orange detainee uniforms were paraded with their feet and hands tied at a news conference in Denpasar, the capital of Bali province.

The customs spokesman for the Bali and Nusatenggara regional office, Wachid Kurniawan, said the suspects were arrested separately since last month upon arrival at the airport.

Kurniawan said the Swiss man was arrested Nov. 4 with a total of 30.04 grams (1.06 ounces) of marijuana in his luggage. Two days later, customs officers nabbed the Thai man with 17.76 grams (0.6 ounce) of marijuana concealed in his underwear.

He said the Singaporean woman was captured Nov. 14 after immigration officer found a small plastic bag with 0.35 gram (0.01 ounce) of cocaine inside her passport, while the Chilean man was nabbed two weeks later with 77.26 grams (2.7 ounces) of liquid methamphetamine in his black suitcase.

The Hong Kong man was arrested Dec. 4 with 3.2 kilograms (7 pounds) of crystal methamphetamine in his luggage, and his 19-year-old fellow Hong Kong national was captured last week with 4 kilograms (8.8 pounds) of crystal methamphetamine wrapped in four branded pet food packaging in his luggage, Kurniawan said.

Indonesia has extremely strict drug laws, and convicted smugglers are sometimes executed by firing squad.

More than 150 people are currently on death row, mostly for drug crimes. About one-third of them are foreigners.

In May, a Frenchman was sentenced to death on Lombok, an island next to Bali, for smuggling 3 kilograms (6.6 pounds) of ecstasy before a higher court commuted his sentence to 19 years in prison.

Last month, a court in Bali sentenced two Thais to 16-year prison terms for smuggling 1 kilogram (2.2 pounds) of methamphetamine.

Delta traveler nearly got away with bringing 33 pounds of cocaine on a flight

W hile increasing digitalization and screening are now an integral part of every step of the airport experience, this has not stopped some criminals from trying to smuggle drugs and weapons in unconventional ways.

Some incidents highlighted by the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) include several types of drugs  sewn inside a hair scrunchie confiscated at Boise International Airport and 17 bullets "artfully concealed inside the otherwise clean disposable baby diaper" at New York's LaGuardia.

Related: A traveler tried to sneak something completely ridiculous through U.S. customs

As first reported by local news outlet Click4 Detroit, the Department of Homeland Security is currently investigating a Michigan man who was caught trying to move cocaine bricks weighing more than 33 pounds through Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport (DFW).

Here is how a last-minute flight tipped off authorities about potential drug smuggling

On June 6, Woodrow Campbell booked a Delta Air Lines  ( DAL )  flight from Los Angeles to his home city of Saginaw that was scheduled to take off less than 24 hours later on June 7. According to the criminal complaint airport authorities filed on June 8, Campbell had several records of checking suitcases on flights and then leaving them behind at the airport. In May 2023, Campbell left a bag containing 10 pounds of cocaine in it at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport (his criminal record has a misdemeanor charge but no felony charges.)

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Between this history and the last-minute nature of the flight (this can set off airport alarm bells as drug smugglers often book flights at the last minute to not have a long digital record of where they're going), a judge ordered all three of the bags he was transporting offloaded and checked during a layover at Wayne County Airport. Two of the bags arrived on an earlier flight and had also already been identified by sniffer dogs as containing drugs by the time the third bag arrived at 2:15 p.m.

'See whether or not they have the evidence necessary to support the charges'

The search then turned up over 33 pounds of cocaine spread across the three bags — each brick was wrapped in bulky male clothing that, according to the police report, were far too large for Campbell's frame. Campbell was arrested without incident and taken into Wayne County Airport Authority police headquarters amid a pending investigation. He is currently detained on an unsecured bond of $10,000. 

The initial investigation shows that there is "probable cause" to believe that Campbell was transporting cocaine with the intent to distribute it. An investigation published earlier this month by ABC7 found that LAX International Airport has reason to be dubbed the drug-smuggling hub of the world amid rising rates of narcotics smuggled into and spread through the rest of the U.S. from Mexican and South American cartels through its doors.

"It's really premature for me to give you my assessment of the case other than at this particular point, he's pled not guilty, and that we're going to traverse through process to see whether or not they have the evidence necessary to support the charges levied against him," Adam Gregory Clements, the attorney who is representing Campbell in the case, told Detroit News.

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