Nine face the death penalty if convicted says Bali police head

DENPASAR, Bali, - Nine Australians arrested in a dramatic Bali heroin bust will face a firing squad if convicted of trying to smuggle drugs out of Indonesia and into Australia, the head of the island's police anti-drugs squad said today.

Australian consular officials said it was "by far" the largest number of drug-related detentions of Australians ever in Indonesia.

The nine - eight men and one woman - were nabbed by Indonesian authorities last night following an Australian Federal Police operation dating back to February.

Five were arrested in the departure lounge of Bali airport while waiting for a flight to Sydney, allegedly with bags of heroin strapped to their bodies, Colonel Bambang Sugiarto told AAP.

Others, including an alleged drug ring boss, were caught at two hotels.

He said the case mirrored that of Gold Coast woman and alleged marijuana trafficker Schapelle Corby, but was far more serious as it involved category one drugs.

"It involves exporting or importing drugs. If found guilty, death penalty," he said.

No charges have yet been laid.

Colonel Sugiarto said the police surveillance operation which led to the arrests had been mounted on two hotels, the beachfront Hard Rock resort in Kuta and the nearby Melasti Hotel in Tuban.

Following a week-long operation, police approached the five in the airport departure lounge around 7pm yesterday where they were relaxed and reading newspapers waiting to board an Australian Airlines flight to Sydney.

They were asked to undergo a body search.

Four were allegedly found with 2kg packages of heroin strapped to their legs with brown masking tape, while another had the drug stash taped across his stomach.
An Indonesian lawyer for the five caught at the airport, Rifan Mohammad, said one of his clients had claimed not to have been carrying drugs.

An AFP spokesman said the four allegedly carrying the drugs included two men from Brisbane, both aged 19, a 29-year-old man from Sydney and a 27-year-old woman from Sydney.

She said a fifth person -- a 21-year-old man from Sydney - was also arrested at the airport.

Soon after, four other men were taken into custody at a Bali hotel -- a 27-year-old Brisbane man, and three men from Sydney aged 18, 20 and 24.

In Canberra, Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said the arrests were made in Indonesia -- and not in Australia where there is no death penalty -- because that was where the alleged offences occurred.

Colonel Sugiarto said prior to the search one man claimed to have had a broken leg, which accounted for a bulge in his clothing.

But after questioning all allegedly confessed they had been carrying the drugs for their "boss".

Police then raided the Melasti Hotel and arrested another four people found with sandwich-sized blocks of heroin. Traces of the drug were also found in two suitcases, police alleged.

Colonel Sugiarto said the drugs had come from the notorious "Golden Triangle" area in northern Thailand and Burma, and was being couriered through Bali to Australia by the nine.

The boss of the smuggling gang was believed to be among those arrested at the hotel and police believed other gang members may be still on the run in Bali, he said.

Colonel Sugiarto said the gang had been acting "mysterious and suspicious" all week, staying in their hotel rooms and instructing hotel staff not to reveal their identities to anyone.

Police had not fingerprinted the drugs at the airport because the gang had been caught "red-handed", he said.

He said all were Australians, but at least three had been of "Asian descent".

Police were still testing the drugs for strength.

Police allowed photographers and television cameras into a room where the nine were being interrogated, but all covered their faces with bags or clothing.

Investigators also released a number of suitcases and backpacks they said were not needed as evidence.

Indonesia has increasingly become not only a transit route, but also a market for drug traffickers and courts across the country have passed a dozen death sentences on foreigners found guilty of serious drug offences in recent years.

At least 53 people are believed to be on death row.

The arrests come amid strains between Indonesia and Australia over the trial of Schapelle Corby, who claims she was set up as an unwitting courier for 4.1kg of marijuana.

Australian government minister have lobbied Indonesia to avert a death sentence for the 27-year-old former beauty student.

Indonesia's chief foreign affairs spokesman Marty Natalegawa said the latest drug bust in Bali would not threaten slowly improving diplomatic relations.

"This is clearly an issue of drugs and drug smuggling. There is no doubt that -- Indonesians and Australians -- we are all against that," he said.

He said it would have been unimaginable to allow the suspects to fly to Australia.

"... where an alleged offence is committed, that's where charges will be brought," he said.

Mr Downer said he did not believe the arrests would have any bearing on the case involving charges against Australian Schapelle Corby after she was allegedly caught trying to smuggle 4.1kg of cannabis into Bali.

"There's no relationship between the alleged facts in this case and the alleged facts in the Schapelle Corby case," he said.

Mr Downer said that although there were only allegations against the nine Australians, it was timely to note the seriousness of attempting to traffic drugs.

"This is yet another ... clear message to all Australians that drug trafficking is not only immoral, because of the consequences for the people who consume the drugs, but it is also a profoundly serious criminal offence.

"People who contemplate trafficking in drugs do face very, very severe penalties.

- AAP