Young tourist could face death by firing squad in Bali after being found with cocaine

A teenage tourist faces death by firing squad after being caught with cocaine in Bali.

Manuela Vitoria de Araujo Farias, from Brazil, had travelled to the holiday hotspot via Qatar last month.

But when the 19-year-old arrived at the Indonesian province, authorities found 3kg of the illegal drug in her luggage.

Farias was immediately arrested at Bali International Airport on 27 January, and is now fighting her case.

Although Indonesia's capital punishment is meant to be saved for grave cases such as murder, it is often handed out to drug smugglers.

The country's used method is death by firing squad.

Bali Police

Among the numerous cases in the country is that of Lindsay Sandiford, a 65-year-old British grandma who was caught with a suitcase full of cocaine in 2012 and has been on death row ever since.

Farias could face the same penalty if she is convicted of drug trafficking.

According to The Bali Times, Farias pleads innocence, with her lawyer Davi Lira da Silva claiming the teen was tricked into smuggling the drugs by criminal gang members.

Silva alleged that the gang duped Farias by informing her of temples in Bali where people pray for the ill, knowing that her mother had recently suffered a stroke.

The layer said she was simply visiting the island to look for a cure, adding: "They said that she could pray in the temples to ask for her mother’s healing."

Whether authorities will agree with the claims is yet to be seen, and the case is ongoing.

The outlet went on to say that police in Santa Catarina in Brazil have refused to discuss an investigation into the alleged gang members who are accused of tricking the teen.

If Farias is found guilty, she could experience the same fate as Sandiford, who has been on death row in Bali for the past decade.

The former legal secretary was discovered trying to smuggle cocaine worth £1.6 million into Indonesia in 2012, and she was subsequently locked up and sentenced to death by the court.

But since Indonesia doesn’t carry out these executions frequently - the last known cases were in 2016 - she's been left in limbo.

Sandiford previously separated from her husband and made the decision to move to India in 2012, only to then get caught up in the drugs bust.

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After her arrest, the 65-year-old claimed she was pressured into carrying the drugs by a gang who had made threats against her children, and her lawyers also argued she was suffering from mental health problems.

Speaking to the court during her trial, she expressed regret over her involvement, stating: "I would like to begin by apologising to the Republic of Indonesia and the Indonesian people for my involvement.

"I would never have become involved in something like this but the lives of my children were in danger and I felt I had to protect them."

Sandiford, originally from Cheltenham, knits various items in prison which she sells in order to raise funds for her legal costs as she continues to fight her case.