3 British nationals face a death penalty for allegedly smuggling cocaine on Bali’s tourist island

Three British citizens accused of smuggling of more than two pounds of cocaine to Indonesia were accused on Tuesday in a court on the tourist island of Bali. They face the death penalty under the strict drug laws of the country.

Drug traffickers condemned in Indonesia sometimes are executed by squadron.

Jonathan Christopher Collyer, 28, and Lisa Ellen Stocker, 29, were arrested on February 1 after Customs officers arrested them in the X -ray machine after finding suspicious items in their luggage disguised as food packages, said the prosecutor who made a dip umbara.

Umbara told Denpasar District Court that a laboratory test result confirmed that ten grats of Delight Powder of desserts are mixed in Collyer’s luggage combined with seven similar bags in his partner’s suitcase contained 2.19 pounds of cocaine, with a value of $ 368,000 estimated.

Two days later, the authorities arrested Phineas Ambrose Float, 31 years after a controlled delivery established by the Police in which the other two suspects gave him the drug in the parking area of ​​a hotel in Denpasar. It is being judged separately.

The drugs were brought from England to Indonesia with a transit at the Doha International Airport in Qatar, Umbara said.

The group successfully smuggled cocaine in Bali on two previous occasions before being caught in their third attempt, Ponco Indriyo said, the deputy director of the Bali Police Narcotics Unit during a press conference in Denpasar on February 7.

After the charges were read against the group of three, the panel of three judges postponed the trial until June 10, when the court will hear the testimony of the witnesses.

Both the defendants and their lawyers declined to comment to the media after the trial. Speaking to the BBC in February, his lawyer, Sheiny Pangkahila, said that if he is convicted, each could face between 15 and 20 years in an Indonesian prison or the death penalty.

The British embassy in Yakarta did not immediately respond to an News comments.

Around 530 people, including 96 foreigners, are in the death corridor in Indonesia, mainly due to drug -related crimes, according to the data of the Immigration and Correction Ministry. The latest executions of Indonesia, an Indonesian and three foreigners, were carried out in July 2016.

A British woman, Lindsay Sandiford, now 69, has been in the death corridor in Indonesia for more than a decade. It was arrested in 2012 when 8.4 pounds of cocaine were discovered in the lining of their luggage at Bali airport. The highest court in Indonesia confirmed the death sentence by Sandiford in 2013.

The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime says that Indonesia is an important drug demand center despite having some of the strictest drug laws in the world, partly because international drug unions are directed to their young population.

The administration of Indonesian President Pabowo Subianto moved in recent months to repatriate several high profile inmates, all convicted of drug crimes, back to their countries of origin.

Frenchman Serge Atlaoui returned to France in February after Yakarta and Paris agreed to repatriate him for “humanitarian motifs” because he was sick.

In December, Indonesia took Mary Jane Veloso Outside the death corridor and returned it to the Philippines.

Also sent to the remaining five members of the “Bali Nine” Drug ring, which was serving prison sentences, back to Australia.

According to the Ministry of Immigration and Corrections of Indonesia, 96 foreigners were in the death corridor, all for drug positions, before the release of Veloso.

Meanwhile, in Sri Lanka, a former British hostess, Charlotte May Leeshe was arrested for charges that she had more than 100 pounds of synthetic cannabis in her bags. I could face life imprisonment if it is declared guilty.

Agance France-Presse contributed to this report.

• Drug traffic
• Cocaine
• Indonesia