Australian accused of smuggling cocaine into Bali faces ‘death penalty or life in jail'
Authorities are providing consular assistance in Bali to an Australian man accused of trying to smuggle drugs into the Indonesian tourist island.
The 43-year-old from Sydney was arrested on Thursday after police raided his rented house near Kuta Beach.
Authorities seized 1.7kg of cocaine along with a digital scale and mobile phone, said Bali's police chief, Daniel Adityajaya.
The arrest followed an investigation conducted by Bali police anti-drug surveillance teams who reported the man had received two suspicious packages sent by mail from the UK, Adityajaya said.
'He is suspected of importing or distributing class 1 narcotics,' Adityaja told a news conference in Denpasar on Monday.
'He is threatened with the death penalty or life imprisonment.'
The accused man was paraded at the news conference wearing handcuffs, an orange jumpsuit and a black balaclava covering his face. The man did not make a statement.
The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade confirmed it was providing consular assistance to an Australian detained in Bali.
'Owing to our privacy obligations we are unable to provide further comment,' a spokesperson said.
Indonesian authorities allege the man had ordered a motorcycle taxi driver through the Grab online service on 21 May, to pick up two packages at a post office in Denpasar.
The driver was told to hand the two packages to a motorcycle taxi driver from another online service, who was ordered to deliver them to the Australian's rented house, Adityajaya said.
Indonesia has some of the world's strictest drug laws.
The ringleader s of the so-called Bali Nine, Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran, were executed by firing squad in 2015, sparking a diplomatic incident with Australia.
They were among nine Australians arrested in 2005 for attempting to smuggle heroin out of the Indonesian resort island.
In December, Indonesia returned to Australia the five remaining members of the drug smuggling ring who had been serving life sentences in the south-east Asian country.
The men, who have not been pardoned, are banned from entering Indonesia for life.
Renae Lawrence was released in 2018 and Tan Duc Than Nguyen died of cancer the same year.
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Daily Mail
an hour ago
- Daily Mail
EXCLUSIVE Family and friends of three Brits locked up in Bali jail over '£300,000 Angel Delight cocaine smuggling plot' say they are in 'deep shock' as they face death penalty
The family and friends of three Britons locked up in Bali over an alleged cocaine smuggling plot have spoken of their 'deep shock' and 'fear' for their safety. Jon Collyer, 38, and Lisa Stocker, 39, were arrested at Bali's international airport in February after being caught with almost £300,000 worth of cocaine stashed inside sachets of Angel Delight powdered dessert mix, according to Balinese authorities. The pair appeared in court in Bali this week alongside Phineas Float, 31, who was allegedly due to receive the packages and was arrested a few days later. All three defendants, who are from Hastings and St Leonards-on-Sea in East Sussex, could face the death penalty. Convicted drug traffickers, especially those caught with large quantities, have in the past been executed by firing squad in Indonesia - including foreign nationals. If the quantity is large but not enough for the death penalty, life in prison is a common sentence. Today the families and friends of the three Britons wept as they spoke of their 'horror' at learning of the arrests and the penalty their loved ones could face. Jon's father Julian Collyer said: 'I'm in deep shock, to be honest. I'm very, very worried as any father or parent would be. I'm concerned about the court case and just very worried.' The retired graphic designer, who lives in Rye, East Sussex, said he had spoken to his son from prison in Bali but it was the first time in three weeks they had spoken. 'I don't want to talk about anything at the moment because I don't want to jeopardise the court hearing. Anything I say could be misconstrued so I just want to stay quiet for the time being.' A family member of Lisa Stocker, who would not be identified, wept as she told of her fear for her relative. She said: 'She's just a mum. Her kids are going to be desperate without her. It doesn't bear thinking about. I'm so shocked and I can't sleep at night for thinking what might happen to her.' Sobbing, she continued: 'There are some seriously evil people in this world who take advantage of people less fortunate and I think that's what has happened here. I'm in bits. I can't say any more.' Jon's friend Dean, 39, said: 'I'm still in total shock. I didn't even know he and Lisa had gone to Bali. It's an absolute mess and I'm really worried about them both. 'Lisa has got kids, three I think, and what are they going to do if their mum is banged up. I was horrified when I heard about it. It's a nightmare. I can't believe they'd be so stupid to do something like that and I hope they're released soon.' It is understood Balinese officers halted the couple at the X-ray machine after finding 'suspicious' items in their suitcases. They were pulled to a separate area, where staff found the narcotics sealed in blue plastic 'Angel Delight' sachets in Collyer's luggage. However, Indonesia has paused the death penalty since 2017 and Indonesian president Prabowo Subianto's government has in recent months repatriated several high-profile foreign nationals convicted of drug offences back to their home countries. Pictured: Lisa Stocker arriving for her trial at Denpasar district court on June 3, 2025 More cocaine was found in seven plastic bags in his partner's suitcase. It is alleged that Mr Collyer and Ms Stocker were caught with 17 packages of cocaine in total, with a value of £296,000. Angel Delight is a powdered dessert mixture that was popular in the 1960s and 70s. A former neighbour and friend of the Stocker family said: 'I can't believe it. I'm in shock. Gosh, I feel for the family. They were my neighbours for many years and they were nice.' Jeannie, who would not give her surname, said: 'They were a big family but we got on well. Lisa was nice. I can't believe they'd be involved in something like this.' The heaviest punishment for taking part in a drug transaction is the death penalty under Indonesian law. However, the Indonesian government has paused the death penalty since 2017 and the country's president Prabowo Subianto has in recent months repatriated several high-profile foreign nationals convicted of drug offences back to their home countries. Frenchman Serge Atlaoui returned to France in February after Jakarta and Paris agreed a deal to repatriate him on 'humanitarian grounds' because he was ill. In court the police wheeled in the near-50kg haul of cannabis she was caught carrying as their investigation into the drugs bust continues The former TUI cabin crew member is facing years locked in a Sri Lankan jail after being caught with nearly £1.2million worth of synthetic cannabis In December, Indonesia took Mary Jane Veloso off death row and returned her to the Philippines. It also sent the five remaining members of the 'Bali Nine' drug ring, who were serving heavy prison sentences, back to Australia. According to Indonesia's Ministry of Immigration and Corrections, 96 foreigners were on death row, all on drug charges, before Veloso's release. Collyer, Stocker and Float are only three of numerous Brits detained overseas on drug charges. Last month a British former flight attendant was accused of smuggling £1.2 million of super-strength cannabis into Sri Lanka. Charlotte May Lee, 21, from Coulsdon, south London, was arrested in Colombo after police discovered 46 kg of 'Kush' - a synthetic strain of cannabis - in her suitcase. She had just arrived in the Sri Lankan capital on a flight from Bangkok in Thailand. She was arrested at Bandaranaike Airport and taken into custody on Monday, May 11. She is facing up to 25 years locked in a hellhole Sri Lankan jail - but she has insisted she has been set up. MailOnline spoke to her from her cell where she admitted that she had not been eating because the food was too spicy. The incident came just days after a British teenager was arrested in the Georgian capital of Tbilisi after allegedly arriving from Thailand carrying 14kg of cannabis in her luggage. Bella May Culley, 18, is now facing life in prison in the former Soviet country after being accused of illegally buying, possessing and importing large quantities of narcotics. The youngster from Billingham, Country Durham, was believed to have gone missing in Thailand before she was detained 3,700 miles away at Tbilisi International Airport on the charges. Concerns had been raised that the two cases were related as both young women left Bangkok airport on the same day. But Ms Lee told MailOnline she did not know Ms Culley, who has been remanded in custody until her next appearance on July 1. Miss Lee and Miss Culley were arrested in Sri Lanka and Georgia respectively within hours of each other. Ms Culley faces spending life behind bars in Georgia with an evil sledgehammer killer who throttled her own child to death. The 18-year-old is languishing in notorious Women's Penitentiary Number Five alongside double murderer Magda Papidze, 35. Flame-haired Papidze is the only current inmate serving a full life sentence after smashing her husband Omar Kaphiashvili to death with a sledgehammer as he slept, after first strangling their five-year-old son, Tornike.
Scottish Sun
an hour ago
- Scottish Sun
Full tragic timeline of 3-week hunt for Pheobe Bishop – from airport disappearance to housemate arrests and horror find
Click to share on X/Twitter (Opens in new window) Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) PHEOBE Bishop mysteriously vanished over three weeks ago in a gripping disappearance case which puzzled the world. The shocking story has been plagued by grim twists and heartbreaking pleas after the 17-year-old teenager went missing near an airport on May 15. Sign up for Scottish Sun newsletter Sign up 16 Australian teen Pheobe Bishop disappeared over three weeks ago Credit: Facebook 16 Both of her housemates were arrested and charged with murder Credit: Queensland Police 16 An extensive search was launched in the weeks after she vanished Credit: 9 News 16 Her heartbroken mum made an emotional series of posts over the last three weeks Credit: Enterprise 16 Before she disappeared, Pheobe had been living in the town of Gin Gin, which is north of Brisbane in Australia. The sleepy neighbourhood has a population of about 1,100 people. The teenager had been living in a derelict pad - which had a foul smell and was very noisy according to neighbours. She lived there with two housemates: James Wood, 34, and Tanika Bromley, 33. On the day she went missing, Pheobe was meant to board a flight to see her boyfriend in Western Australia. Her housemates drove her to Bundaberg airport, but police said CCTV there never even saw her enter the terminal and she never actually checked in. She was on her way to Perth to visit her "high-school sweetheart" boyfriend. Pheobe reportedly made a last minute call to him at 8:30am mere moments before she was set to get on the flight to Western Australia. A family member said: "She didn't check in for her flight to visit her boyfriend who she spoke to on the phone at 8.30am." According to the Daily Mail, Wood said the couple had an explosive argument in the car with Pheobe over whether she could do her makeup before arriving at the airport. He said they pulled over just under a kilometre from their destination. Pheobe Bishop cops arrest 34-year-old flatmate who was last to see missing Aussie teen on explosive journey to airport Wood and Bromley then allegedly walked off and were away from Pheobe and the car for five minutes, according to the 34-year-old. A missing person's report was issued for her one day later on May 16. Her worried sick sister, Kaylea Bishop, sent Wood and Bromley a simple text, demanding to know the whereabouts of her sibling. She said: "Where is my sister?" On the following weekend, her desperate mum Kylie Johnson made emotional pleas for anyone with information to come forward. By May 18, over 400 missing person posters with Pheobe's photo had been plastered across the Wide Bay region. The next week, on Monday May 19, police launched their search for Pheobe. It covered land along Bundaberg's Airport Drive and the surrounding areas. 16 The 17-year-old had been living in a derelict home Credit: Enterprise 16 Housemate Tanika Bromley, 33 Credit: Enterprise 16 Housemate James Wood, 34 Credit: Facebook 16 A shock change was discovered on Bromley's car Credit: Facebook But mysteriously, police didn't find any sign of the teen or her belongings. Police, along with Pheobe's mum, described her disappearance as out of character on May 20. They also asked the public for information about the 2011 grey Hyundai ix35 hatch, owned by Bromley, that had been seen around Airport Drive at the time of Pheoebe's disappearance. The next day, police updated the case and said they were treating Pheobe's disappearance as a suspicious. They also declared two crime scenes - one being the run-down home she was living at, and the other being the infamous Hyundai she was driven to the airport in. After inspecting the foul-smelling home, police found four dead dogs rotting inside. But it was later understood that these four pups died of natural causes. Airport Drive, Samuels Road and Gin Gin were also named as locations of interest. On May 22, Detective Acting Inspector Ryan Thompson stressed the importance of public information. In a chilling plea, he said: "People don't vanish." 16 The desperate search had previously been called off Credit: 9 News 16 Bromley's Hyundai was declared a crime scene Credit: 7 News 16 Pheobe's mum said the discovery of a body had ripped her apart Credit: Facebook The day after that, police revealed they were searching through bushland and waterways at Good Night Scrub National Park, near to where Pheobe was last seen. This scan went on for the next two days, during which police dogs joined the hunt. On May 25 Bromley was arrested in a major twist after police allegedly found weapons in her silver Hyundai. On May 26, the search area was expanded - before cops made a harrowing revelation. They believed evidence had been moved from the Good Night Scrub area before they arrived there. And on this same day, a new number plate was discovered to have been suspiciously painted and taped over the notorious Hyundai's original plate. The gruelling search effort in Good Night Scrub National Park then continued from May 27 for five more days. Disturbingly, the search appeared to lose hope as police said they would no longer be doing any more physical scans for Pheobe on Wednesday, June 4. They said they would restart any searches only when they had relevant information. But in a dramatic twist on the very same day - Pheobe's housemate Wood was arrested. 16 She had saved up for months to buy a plane ticket Credit: Enterprise 16 The teenager was set to board a flight on May 15 Credit: Enterprise However, no charges were made and he was released a day later on June 5. And in yet another turn in the tale - Wood and Bromley were then both arrested and charged with murder on the same day Wood was released - exactly three weeks after Pheobe went missing. They were each charged with one count of murder and two counts of interfering with a corpse. Shocking footage released on Friday showed the moment police arrested Wood and escorted him out of an RV for the "homicide of Pheobe Bishop". Both Wood and Bromley appeared at Bundaberg Magistrates Court on Friday morning. Outside the building, Pheobe's heartbroken sister Kaylea Bishop said her sibling was 'loved and missed' dearly. Kaylea and Pheobe had a close relationship and were planning to move in together last year. And in the latest heartbreaking update, human remains were found during a search for Pheobe. They are yet to be identified, but police have spoken to Pheobe's family regarding the harrowing discovery. The body was found close to Good Night Scrub National Park, near Gin Gin, on Friday, June 6 at around 2:30pm. 16 Pheobe was last seen with Wood and Bromley on May 15 Credit: Facebook 16 Police constantly pleaded with the public to bring forward any information Credit: Facebook Pheobe's mum then made a heartbreaking statement. She said: "I didn't think my heart could break anymore than it did when you went missing, or when the charges were laid but this. "This is ripping me apart." Pheobe had previously said online that she wasn't living with her mum, and that she had been "in and out" of home for years. Cops are now set to allege that Wood, Bromley and Pheobe were all in the car when it arrived at Airport Drive near Bundaberg Airport in the morning of May 15. They believe that the trio never actually left the car. Detective Inspector Craig Mansfield said: "Our evidence will outline the fact that three people arrived near to the airport, and three people never exited that vehicle." Wood and Bromley will appear in court on August 11.
BBC News
2 hours ago
- BBC News
'Male escort' actually boss of West Midlands cocaine smuggling gang
A man who claimed he made his money working as a male escort was actually the leader of a gang which smuggled cocaine worth £20m, investigators Shergill, 43, of Oldbury was jailed for more than 21 years after he eventually pleaded guilty to smuggling class A drugs, the National Crime Agency (NCA) other members of the gang were also jailed, including Jagdeep Singh, who was sentenced to six years and eight months at Birmingham Crown Court on gang imported around 250kg of cocaine with a street value of £20m in 2020 and used the encrypted communications platform EncroChat to arrange the deals. Shergill told NCA investigators he made his money through male escort bookings, teaching martial arts and lucrative personal trainer investigators found he arranged premises in the UK for Class A drugs to be delivered would liaise with conspirators in the Netherlands who would inform him of impending deliveries before his group distributed them to other members around the of Tipton was in possession of 30kg of high purity cocaine at the time of his 43-year-old was an electrician and was tasked with taking receipt of drugs deliveries and acting as a warehouseman. Three other members were jailed in September: Khurram Mohammed, 37, of Barker Street, Oldbury, was also jailed for 14 years and four months. Shakfat Ali, 38, of Douglas Road, Oldbury, travelled around the UK on the gang's behalf and is believed to have delivered drugs. He was jailed for 16 years and nine Sajad, 44, of Norton Crescent, Birmingham, was jailed for 16 years. He was already serving a seven-year sentence before these offences. Rick Mackenzie, NCA operations manager, said: "These offenders formed a significant crime group in the West Midlands and had far-reaching contacts to help them peddle drugs all around the UK."Shergill and his accomplices are directly responsible for the horrendous consequences Class A drugs have among our communities." Follow BBC Birmingham on BBC Sounds, Facebook, X and Instagram.
