Latest news with #Denpasar
ABC News
4 days ago
- ABC News
Lamar Aaron Ahchee's family says it trusts due process will be upheld in the handling of his case in Indonesia
The family of an Australian man arrested in Bali in connection to the alleged smuggling of 1.7 kilograms of cocaine says it trusts due process will be upheld in the handling of his case. Lamar Aaron Ahchee was arrested on May 22 at his apartment in the Balinese village of Tibubeneng in North Kuta. Police allege the 43-year-old received two packages there, which contained an estimated $1.1 million worth of cocaine in 206 small packages. The drugs were wrapped in Lindor Lindt chocolate wrappers. Police allege Mr Ahchee was promised a reward of about $4,713 to accept the delivery of the packages, which arrived in Bali's capital, Denpasar, from overseas on May 20. He is yet to be charged with a specific offence. Bali's High Prosecutor's office last week told the ABC it may take authorities up to 60 days to charge Mr Ahchee for his alleged involvement in drug smuggling. Mr Ahchee's sister Stephanie and his mother have travelled to Bali to support him. In a short statement given to media on Friday, Stephanie Ahchee thanked Indonesian authorities for their "professionalism and impartiality". "We are grateful for the fair and respectful treatment he has received from law enforcement and legal officials throughout this process," she said. "We acknowledge the seriousness of this case and the situation and remain committed to full cooperation with the legal system to ensure a just outcome. "Our priority is Lamar's wellbeing and we trust that due process will be upheld." Ms Ahchee was accompanied by John McLeod, a consultant who has worked with a number of Australians arrested on drug charges in Indonesia, including Schapelle Corby. Bali police told media last month that they had received a tip-off that there would be two packages containing drugs arriving from overseas, one addressed to an apartment in North Kuta, and the other destined for an address in Mengwi. Customs officers allegedly detected the cocaine inside the packages via X-ray, who then contacted police. Authorities then monitored the delivery of the packages. Police allege Mr Ahchee arranged for a driver with a ride-hail app to collect one of the packages from a post office. That package was collected, then passed on to a second delivery driver who delivered it to the apartment, before the original driver picked up the second package from a different post office and drove it to the same address. Mr Ahchee was arrested on the same day after allegedly receiving the packages. Police say Mr Ahchee told them he did not know who exactly organised the drugs, but admitted that he had received an order from someone referred to as "Boss" to receive the packages and distribute them for a promised reward of 50 million rupiah (about $4,731). While Mr Ahchee is yet to be charged, convictions for bringing drugs into Indonesia can carry the death penalty.
Malay Mail
5 days ago
- General
- Malay Mail
Death penalty looms for American, Kazakhs over Bali drug charges, say Indonesian authorities
DENPASAR, June 5 — An American man and two Kazakh nationals face the death penalty for alleged drug crimes on the popular Indonesian resort island of Bali, authorities said Thursday, the latest cases in a nation with some of the world's toughest narcotics laws. Indonesia hands out severe punishments for drug smuggling and has previously executed foreigners, but has upheld a moratorium on the death sentence since 2017. American national William Wallace Molyneaux was arrested on May 23, allegedly carrying seven packages containing 99 pills of amphetamine, Bali's narcotics agency told reporters in Denpasar. Molyneaux has multiple charges levelled against him including distributing drugs, which carries the maximum penalty of death by execution. Two Kazakh men were also arrested in April with around 49 grams of crystal meth, allegedly intending to drop it off as part of a drug deal. They were accused of transacting drugs, a charge that carries the death sentence as the maximum penalty. The American and Kazakh embassies in Jakarta did not immediately respond to AFP's requests for comment. The narcotics agency said it had uncovered 15 drug cases in Bali between April and May, resulting in 21 arrests including five foreigners. The other cases include an Australian man who was arrested with nearly 200 grams of hashish and 92 grams of THC in Denpasar and an Indian man caught with 488 grams of marijuana at Bali's international airport. Both face hefty prison terms. The latest cases come after the trial of three Brits began on Tuesday, all accused of smuggling drugs or taking part in a drugs deal, leaving them also facing the death penalty. The British embassy in Jakarta said London's policy on the death penalty was to be opposed 'in all circumstances, as a matter of principle'. It said diplomats had 'made representations about the use of the death penalty to the Indonesian government at the highest levels'. Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto's administration has moved in recent months to repatriate several high-profile inmates, all sentenced for drug offences, back to their home countries. According to Indonesia's Ministry of Immigration and Corrections, more than 90 foreigners were on death row, all on drug charges. — AFP
Daily Mail
6 days ago
- General
- Daily Mail
Another Australian is arrested in Bali after he was allegedly caught smuggling drugs into the country
An Australian man could spend the rest of his life in jail after he was allegedly caught smuggling 104g of marijuana into Bali. The 40-year-old was arrested in Denpasar last Thursday after a tip-off from an Indian national who was allegedly found with 600g of marijuana at Bali's international airport. Police allegedly found the drugs as they raided his room while a Kazakhstan and US national were also arrested. In Indonesia, Marijuana is a Class 1 narcotic which is the same category as heroin, cocaine, methamphetamine, LSD, and MDMA. If the Aussie man is charged and convicted with drug trafficking he could be sent to jail for life and if he's charged with possession, he could face 12 years in prison. The police haven't yet named the Aussie but he was the second Australian to be arrested in Bali for alleged drug possession within a week. On May 22, Lamar Ahchee was arrested in Canggu for allegedly trafficking 1.8kg of cocaine, worth $1.1million, into Indonesia. Police alleged the Cairns man, who is the son of former Queensland senior constable Les Ahchee, picked up two parcels with cocaine concealed in chocolate boxes. He was allegedly offered 50m Indonesian rupiah, the equivalent of $A4,700, from a unknown person in England known only as 'Boss', to collect and supply the drugs. Ahchee admitted he was a drug addict but rejected being a dealer and claimed he was 'framed'. Ahchee allegedly tested positive for drugs while in custody. His lawyer Edward Pangkahila said Ahchee denied any involvement in drug trafficking. 'He's telling me that honestly, he doesn't know what was inside. We're still looking for that somebody who tell him to take this package,' Pangkahila said. 'The police have to find this guy.' He has not been charged but has been in custody since he was arrested and if he's found guilty, he could get the death penalty. Police will host a press conference regarding the most recent arrest on Thursday, July 5.
Fox News
7 days ago
- Business
- Fox News
Three British nationals could face death by firing squad for allegedly smuggling cocaine into Indonesia
Three British nationals could face death by a firing squad after they allegedly smuggled about a kilogram – over two pounds – of cocaine onto the island of Bali in Indonesia. The Associated Press reported that prosecutor I Made Dipa Umbara said 28-year-old Jonathan Christopher Collyer and 29-year-old Lisa Ellen Stocker were arrested Feb. 1, after customs officers stopped them at the X-ray machine when they found suspicious items disguised as food packages inside their luggage. Umbara told the District Court in Denpasar during a court hearing on Tuesday that a lab test result confirmed 10 pouches of "Angel Delight" powdered desert mix in Collyer's luggage, along with seven similar pouches in Stocker's suitcase contained 993.56 grams, or 2.19 pounds, of cocaine, worth about 6 billion rupiah ($368,000). Two days after Collyer and Stocker were arrested, police arrested 31-year-old Phineas Ambrose Float after a delivery sting set up by law enforcement that involved the other two suspects handing the drug to him in the parking lot of a hotel in Denpasar. Float is being tried separately, according to Umbara. The cocaine was transported from England to Indonesia by way of the Doha International Airport in Qatar, Umbara explained. The trio successfully smuggled cocaine into Bali on two previous occasions before being stopped on their third attempt, Ponco Indriyo, the deputy director of the Bali Police Narcotics Unit, said during a news conference in Denpasar on Feb. 7. The charges against the trio were announced on Tuesday in a Bali courtroom. If convicted, they could face the death penalty. In Indonesia, drug smugglers are sometimes executed by way of a firing squad. A panel of three judges adjourned the trial until June 10, when the court will listen to testimony from witnesses. According to the Ministry of Immigration and Corrections, there are currently 530 people on death row in Indonesia, including 96 foreigners, mostly for drug-related crimes, the AP reported. The last executions in Indonesia were of an Indonesian and three foreigners, which were carried out in July 2016. Lindsay Sandiford, 69, from Great Britain, has been on death row in Indonesia for over a decade. Sandiford was arrested in 2012 after she was discovered to be in possession of more than eight pounds of cocaine in the lining of her luggage at Bali's airport. The highest court in Indonesia upheld the death sentence for Sandiford in 2013. The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime says Indonesia is a major drug-smuggling hub despite having some of the strictest drug laws in the world, in part because international drug syndicates target its young population.
Telegraph
7 days ago
- General
- Telegraph
Britons accused of hiding cocaine in Angel Delight face death penalty in Bali
Three British people accused of smuggling cocaine hidden in Angel Delight sachets are facing the death penalty in Bali. Jonathan Christopher Collyer, 38, and Lisa Ellen Stocker, 39, were arrested on Feb 1 after being stopped at Bali's international airport with 17 packages of the drug that weighed nearly a kilogramme in total, prosecutors said. They appeared in court in Denpasar on Tuesday, alongside Phineas Ambrose Float, 31, who was allegedly due to receive the packages and arrested a few days later. Mr Collyer and Ms Stocker, who are reported to be a couple, were stopped by security at the X-ray machine after 'suspicious' items were detected in their suitcases. They were taken to a separate area, where staff found cocaine in blue plastic packages labelled 'Angel Delight' in Mr Collyer's luggage. More cocaine was found in seven plastic bags in Ms Stocker's suitcase. The drugs were brought from England to Indonesia with a transit in Doha international airport in Qatar, prosecutor Made Dipa Umbara said. Mr Umbara told the court that cocaine seized from the trio was worth an estimated 6 billion rupiah (£271,000). The group had successfully smuggled cocaine into Bali on two previous occasions before being caught on their third attempt, said Ponco Indriyo, the deputy director of the Bali police narcotics unit. After the charges were read out, the panel of three judges adjourned the trial until June 10, when the court will hear witness testimony. The defendants and their lawyers declined to comment to reporters after the hearing. The three Britons could face the death penalty under Indonesia's strict drug laws, although it has upheld a moratorium on the death sentence since 2017. Convicted drug smugglers have in the past been executed by firing squad. The British embassy in Jakarta did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Foreigners on death row President Prabowo Subianto's administration has moved in recent months to repatriate several high-profile inmates, all sentenced for drug offences, back to their home countries. Serge Atlaoui, a Frenchman, returned to France in February after Jakarta and Paris agreed a deal to repatriate him on 'humanitarian grounds' because he was ill. In December, Indonesia took Mary Jane Veloso, who was found guilty of drug trafficking in 2010, 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.
