Police said there were 441 cases involving narcotics in the first half of 2019, which includes the arrests of a total of 31 foreign tourists, most of whom were either Russian or Australian.
“Foreign suspects are dominated by Russian and Australian nationalities, most of whom were caught carrying methamphetamines, which are illegal in Indonesia,” I Gede Sujana from the Bali Police said yesterday, as reported by state news agency Antara.
Australian tourists, who have always made up one of the largest percentage of foreign visitors to Pulau Dewata, accounted for more than 20% of foreign tourists visiting Bali in May. Data from the Central Statistics Agency (BPS) also showed more Russian tourists visiting the island that month compared to the year previous.
According to the police, the total number of cases involving narcotics so far this year has seen a 46% increase compared to similar cases in the first half of 2018, of which there were 301 cases.
However, the overall cases involving drugs – which also includes psychotropic drugs – actually saw a decrease in 2019 when compared to the year before. Based on police data, while there were 593 drugs cases between January and June last year, there were 469 drugs cases in the same period in 2019.
