Customs officers have detained a Frenchman allegedly trying to smuggle hashish into the Indonesian resort island of Bali, an official said Thursday, an offence punishable by death.
Last week a court sentenced a 56 year-old British grandmother to death for attempting to smuggle 4.79 kilograms (10.6 pounds) of cocaine into the island.
Customs officers detained Vincent Roger Petrone, 43, at the airport after he arrived from Kuala Lumpur on Tuesday, airport customs chief Made Wijaya told reporters.
The officers were suspicious he had something hidden inside his body and conducted an X-ray in hospital, Wijaya said.
Recovered from Petrone’s digestive tract were four capsules of hashish paste with a gross weight of 70 grams (2.4 ounces), he said, adding that the capsules had been inserted into his body through the anus.
Petrone, a plasterer who was born in Dijon, could be charged under a law which carries the death penalty for drugs weighing more than five grams.
Wijaya estimated the total value locally of the drugs at 42 million rupiah ($4,300). The trial could start in one or two months.
Frenchman held in Indonesia for alleged drug offence
