Bali police officer admits to smuggling drugs into jail

A member of Bali’s finest is not denying that he smuggled methamphetamine to a police detainee.

Insp. Wayan Sudarta, 55, made the admission at a hearing in Denpasar District Court on Tuesday.

Sudarta is on trial, accused of trying to pass off the meth in a shampoo bottle to Ahmad Gabriel last February, who was in police custody at the time as a drugs and gambling suspect.

“You are not denying the testimony of the witness who said you brought this stuff,” Chief Justice Angeliky said to Sudarta, as quoted by Tribun Bali.

“Correct,” Sudarta answered.

In the trial, prosecutors are presenting five police witnesses who all serve as guards at the jail.

One of the witnesses, Police Superintendent Wayan Tukar says he received a phone call on Feb. 15 from an officer on duty that Sudarta was carrying a suspicious item into the jail: a shampoo bottle that contained some plastic inside.

The officer on duty, Puja Astawa, told the court that Sudarta had come to visit Gabriel with a box of food and toiletries. Astawa says he refused the visitation request because it was not on the schedule.

“The defendant asked me several times to get to the prisoner, but I refused.

“He kept asking me if he could give the prisoner the toiletries and food, but I refused,” Astawa said.

When checking the shampoo bottle, guards realized it wasn’t sealed and that there was something other than just shampoo inside: a bag of meth. 

Sudarta’s trial is set to continue next week, as prosecutors will continue to examine their witnesses.

If found guilty, Sudarta better stay clear of Bali Police Chief Insp. Gen. Petrus Reinhard Golose who has dramatically threatened to shoot dirty cops on the spot.