Australian man held over smuggling cocaine to Bali

Under scrutiny: The suspect being escorted to a news conference at the police headquarters in Bali. — AP
Athorities arrested an Australian man for allegedly smuggling cocaine on the tourist island of Bali, a charge that could carry the death penalty, officials said.
The South-East Asian country has extremely strict drug laws. Convicted smugglers are sometimes executed by firing squad.
Lamar Aaron Ahchee, 43, from Cairns in north Queensland, was arrested last week, after police raided his rented house near Kuta beach, a popular tourist spot, and seized 1.7kg of cocaine in 206 clip plastic bags, along with a digital scale and cellular phone, said Bali 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 England, Adityajaya said on Monday.
'He is suspected of importing or distributing class 1 narcotics,' Adityajaya told a news conference in the provincial capital, Denpasar.
'He may face the death penalty or life imprisonment.'
Adityajaya said a preliminary investigation showed that the Australian had ordered a motorcycle taxi driver through the Grab online service on May 21 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 Ahchee's rented house, Adityajaya said.
Adityajaya said the suspect told authorities during a police interrogation that he was asked by someone he referred to as 'Boss,' to take the package and distribute it in Bali.
He was promised 50 million rupiah (RM12,960) for handling the cocaine.
Police on Monday presented the accused at the news conference. He was wearing an orange detainee jumpsuit and a buff mask, with his hands handcuffed. The man did not make a statement.
One of his lawyers, Edward Pangkahila, said his team would accompany his client during the police questioning 'to see the progress of the investigation'.
'He is not the owner of the cocaine. He is just a dealer,' Pangkahila said.
'The police must be able to chase and arrest the person who is acting as his boss to reveal this case fairly.' — AP

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The Star

17 minutes ago

The Star

Australian woman accused of triple mushroom murders gives evidence

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Death toll rises to 17 in Indonesia quarry collapse as search continues

The Star

2 days ago

The Star

Death toll rises to 17 in Indonesia quarry collapse as search continues

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[UPDATED] 'Tan Sri' among new arrests in ponzi crackdown under Op Northern Star

New Straits Times

3 days ago

New Straits Times

[UPDATED] 'Tan Sri' among new arrests in ponzi crackdown under Op Northern Star

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