Five Including One American Arrested In Bali, Indonesia For Selling Cocaine-Could Face Death Penalty

Five People Arrested In Bali For Selling Cocaine Could Face Capital Punishment

• Five tourists arrested in Bali, Indonesia, for selling cocaine and marijuana.
• Two women and three men from America, Spain, and Russia were arrested from Kuta, Denpasar between 20 and 24 May.
• All five smugglers may face capital punishment if convicted as Indonesia possesses strict drug laws.

Indonesian police arrested five people for selling cocaine and marijuana from Bali among which one is American, two Spaniards and two Russians.

The smugglers, two women, and three men were paraded at a police news conference in the Bali provincial capital, Denpasar. They were arrested between May 20 and May 24, in the tourist hotspot of Kuta, Denpasar police chief Ruddi Setiawan said.

The arrests began after police detained a 33-year-old Russian woman, Nikita, arranging cocaine sales by phone to foreign tourists. Police nabbed 20.18 grams of cocaine and 44.14 grams of marijuana from the group.

Setiawan said,

We are still investing how they got that cocaine and marijuana. We believe they are part of an international syndicate and got the drugs from abroad.

Police identified the suspects as Ian, 31, from America, Maria, 31, from Rusia, Laura, 33, from Spain and Juan, 37 from Spain. Police said Juan had operated a restaurant in Kerobokan near Denpasar for a long time.

All five smugglers may face capital punishment if convicted as Indonesia possesses strict drug laws. There happen to be dozens of convicted smugglers on death row. The last execution took place in July 2016 when an Indonesian and three foreigners were shot dead by firing squad.

Most recently, an Indonesian court sentenced a Frenchman to death who smuggled ecstasy to Lombok though prosecutors had sought a 20-year-sentence.

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