Being caught with drugs in Indonesia, a country with some of the harshest drug laws in the world, would be a difficult experience for anybody. We aren’t legal experts, but we can give you one sound piece of advice you should definitely try to follow should you be unwise enough to find yourself in that particular situation.
Don’t make the cops angrier by flipping them off.
That, unfortunately, is what one US citizen, identified by police as 30-year-old Michelle Justine, decided to do when she was paraded before the media while wearing a mask during a police press conference in Banyuwangi, East Java on Monday.
Justine and another US citizen, identified as 31-year-old Christopher Alan, were among the suspects presented at the police press conference to announce the bust of a pesta sabu ( “meth party”) at the home of an alleged drug dealer in Banyuwangi’s Sumbermulyo Village.
The alleged dealer, as well as two other Indonesian citizens who allegedly put the Americans in contact with him, were also arrested and presented to the media along with evidence seized by the police including about .6 grams of crystal methamphetamine and paraphernalia.
As she was being marched into the press conference room, Justine flashed her middle finger to the media and police.
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“According to our ethics, that is very rude. Moreover, it is in a public place in front of law enforcement officials. That’s very, very wrong what Michelle did,” Indra Najib, the head of the Banyuwangi Police’s Narcotics Unit, told Jatimnow.
Indra said that it was a cultural offense and not a criminal offense but indicated the American could face further consequences for the vulgar gesture.
Police said that the suspected local drug dealer, a man identified as Sunaryo, had been the main target of their investigation. He said the two Americans had been taken to his home after asking their guide for drugs soon after arriving at the Banyuwangi Airport from Jakarta.
Indonesia has some of the heaviest drug laws in the world, with some dealers facing the death penalty depending on the quantities involved. Users caught with small amounts can still receive a range of punishments including significant amounts of jail time or rehab.
