Authorities in Bali recently arrested two Nepalese nationals for attempting to smuggle around 723 grams of methamphetamine into the island. One of the two men allegedly swallowed the drugs to hide them from customs.
Gurung was reportedly arrested on May 25 at Ngurah Rai International Airport, shortly after flying in from Bangkok, Thailand. Customs officers were suspicious of him as he went through airport security, and had him undergo a more thorough examination.
“Our officers were suspicious of him, and later continued the examination with an X-ray scan at the hospital,” said Sutikno from the Bali Regional Customs’ Office, as quoted by Kumparan.
The x-ray scan showed suspicious foreign objects on Gurung’s digestive tracts, which prompted an attempt to remove those objects. They turned out to be 63 plastic packages containing methamphetamine – known locally as shabu – weighing around 506 grams in total.
It certainly isn’t the first time Bali’s seen a smuggling attempt of this nature. Also in May, two Thai nationals were arrested for attempting to smuggle a total of 1.08 kg of crystal methamphetamine inside their stomach.
Kumar was arrested the next day, after authorities discovered that he was planning to meet with Gurung at a mall in Denpasar. Bali’s Customs Office coordinated with the Denpasar Police to arrest Kumar, who had 216 grams of methamphetamine in his possession.
“The two of them knew each other, and they had been texting to meet at the mall,” Denpasar Police Chief, Ruddi Setiawan, said, as quoted by Detik.
Gurung and Kumar were reportedly paid USD 200 to transport the drugs to Bali.
The alleged drug smugglers face a maximum sentence of capital punishment and a maximum fine of IDR 10 billion (USD 707,200).
