An Australian man could face the death penalty in Bali after being accused of smuggling 1.8kg of cocaine into the tourist island.
According to news.com.au, business manager Lamar Ahchee has been detained in the Indonesian province after he allegedly received two packages imported from the UK on 12 May.
The packages are reported to have contained gold Lindt chocolate boxes with 54 individual packets of cocaine inside (via MailOnline). Each packet is said to have weighed 8.3 grams.
Local media claims the two parcels, which arrived from separate addresses in England, had been intercepted after being x-rayed by customs officers from Ngurah Rai Airport.
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Local police then performed a controlled delivery and arrested Cairns native Ahchee after he allegedly instructed a driver to collect both packages and deliver them to him.
He was then apprehended by Indonesian drug squads and arrested on drug smuggling charges. Authorities also claimed to have found a digital scale, plastic and a mobile phone in his room.
Under Indonesian narcotics law, it is illegal to bring drugs into the Southeast Asian country, with harsh sentences such as life imprisonment or the death penalty for those found guilty.
If found guilty, the 43-year-old could receive a death sentence. According to local media, Ahchee claimed that he didn't know who the drugs belonged to, adding that he'd been instructed to distribute its contents in exchange for 50m Indonesian rupiah (£2,268).
He is currently being held in a Bali detention centre, news.com.au reports.
Commenting on the arrest, Bali's police chief, Daniel Adityajaya, told reporters that Ahchee is 'suspected of importing or distributing class 1 narcotics', adding: "He is threatened with the death penalty or life imprisonment."
He continued: "With the secured evidence of 1,713.92g net estimated to be worth 12 billion rupiah, we have successfully saved 2666 lives from the threat of the dangers of drugs.
"Drugs are our common enemy, the Bali Police and its ranks are committed to fighting and eradicating all forms of drug trafficking in the Bali Police Area."
According to 7News, the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade said they were providing assistance to a man detained in Bali, however, they didn't comment further due to 'privacy obligations'.
Ahchee's arrest follows the case of British national Thomas Parker, who currently faces the death penalty for allegedly trying to smuggle MDMA into the country.
During a recent hearing, the 32-year-old apologised and claimed that he was unaware of the package's contents (via the BBC).
Indonesia has some of the strictest drug laws in the world, with grandmother Lindsay Sandiford spending over a decade on death row after being found guilty of smuggling cocaine into the country in 2012.
LADbible has contacted the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade for further comment.
Topics: World News, Travel, Drugs, Australia
Brenna Cooper