A prison officer from Bali’s notorious Kerobokan prison has been arrested on drug couriering charges.
Identified by initials FR, the officer, originally from North Sumatra, was arrested on Monday afternoon around 12pm in front of the prison.
FR’s arrest stems from an investigation looking into two students arrested by the National Narcotics Agency Bali Province (BNNP) in South Kuta on Saturday.
“Based on information from the two students, they confessed their meth was purchased from an unscrupulous Kerobokan Prison officer,” Radar Bali quoted an unidentified source as saying.
Which led BNNP to FR.
“His movement was suspicious that afternoon. He looked restless and uneasy. When he was about to cross the street, we immediately arrested him,” the source explained.
Upon arrest, several packets of meth ready for circulation along with some ecstasy were found on FR’s person, the source said.
“He was secured when dressed in uniform.”
BNNP Chief Brig. Putu Gede Suastawa confirmed the catch, but was reluctant to share much more with reporters for the time being.
However, BNNP Eradication Director Supt. Ketut Artha did state that FR will be charged under the Narcotics Law and will be subject to a minimum penalty of six years and max of life imprisonment, if convicted.
Kerobokan Prison has earned infamy for housing some of Bali’s highest profile criminals like the American pair convicted of the “Bali Suitcase Murder,” Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran of the Bali Nine before they were executed in April 2015, and former Reuters war correspondent David Fox who was locked up over drug possession.
The prison is seriously overcrowded, under-staffed, and has a reputation for being a hub in the island’s drug trade.
