Bali Police Arrest 2 Foreigners for Drug Offenses

DENPASAR, KOMPAS.com – Police in the Indonesian resort island of Bali have arrested two men from Britain and Australia for possession of, and peddling, methamphetamine and ecstasy.

Police Commissioner Jansen Avitus Panjaitan said the two were arrested in Denpasar, Bali’s largest city, on September 1.

“[Investigators] arrested 44-year-old Briton Collum Park near his boarding house on the Kuta tourist strip, following a tip from locals about frequent drug deals in the area,” he said in a press statement dated September 3.

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“We also found 11.84 grams of methamphetamines and 15 ecstasy pills in his room.”

“We nabbed Australian Aaron Wayne Cole in the Badung district shortly after. We found a packet of methamphetamines weighing 1.23 grams on the 32-year-old’s person.”

Jansen added that the two admitted to being in the same drug syndicate. “We were able to determine that Park, who has been in Bali since 2019, is the drug dealer and distributor, while Cole was his courier.”

“[Park] earned Rp 500.000 [$33.89] per transaction, while Cole, who has been in Bali since the beginning of 2020, earned Rp 200.000 [$13.56] a deal.”

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Jansen added that investigators are still trying to determine and find the duo’s accomplices. They are being charged under an article of the narcotics law which provides a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison and a fine.

Indonesia is known for its draconian laws that ban all drugs, even those used for medical purposes. If found guilty, offenders face the maximum sentence of death. Drug offenders make up the majority of people on death row in Indonesia. A third of them are foreigners.

(Writer: Imam Rosidin, Bali Contributor | Editor: Dheri Agriesta)

Sources:

https://denpasar.kompas.com/read/2020/09/03/18024011/jadi-bandar-dan-kurir-narkoba-2-wn-asing-ditangkap-di-bali. 

AP: 2 Foreigners Arrested on Bali for Alleged Drug Possession:
https://apnews.com/948eefbfb1a10d02ce583a92a6a764cb