Two British men accused of smuggling cocaine into Bali were paraded handcuffed together by Indonesian police on Monday as they face the prospect of the death penalty if convicted, authorities and British officials said.
The men, identified by police and court records as Kial Robinson, 29, and Piran Ezra Wilkinson, 48, were photographed at a press conference at Indonesia’s National Narcotics Agency office in Denpasar dressed in orange detention uniforms and shackled alongside other inmates. Agency officials said the arrests would be formally announced at the event and that some narcotics evidence would be destroyed in a modest ceremony.
Indonesian authorities allege Robinson was stopped at Bali’s Ngurah Rai International Airport on September 3 carrying a package that tested positive for cocaine. Indonesian officials and local media reports said the package weighed about 1.3 kilograms. The Daily Mail reported that Robinson arrived on a Turkish Airlines flight from Barcelona and claimed he had been offered $10,000 to deliver the drugs to someone expected at a villa in Mengwi, Badung, near Canggu.
Wilkinson, who is recorded on U.K. Companies House filings as a property manager, was arrested at a villa in the early hours of September 4, according to Indonesian police accounts. Robinson is listed in Companies House filings as the owner of a landscape gardening business registered in Chichester, West Sussex; a visit to the registered business address on Monday found no answer at the property.
Made Dwi Saputra, a spokesperson for the National Narcotics Agency, confirmed that two British nationals had been detained and said the case would be the subject of an official press conference. A Foreign Office spokesperson in London said the U.K. government had been made aware of the detentions, that it continued to provide consular support to both men, and that it remained in contact with local authorities.
Indonesia enforces some of Asia’s strictest drug laws. Convicted drug traffickers caught with large quantities of narcotics have in the past been sentenced to death and executed by firing squad, including foreign nationals. When quantities are judged not to meet the threshold for capital punishment, courts frequently impose long prison terms, including life sentences.
The arrests come amid heightened international scrutiny of drug cases on the resort island. In July, a Denpasar court sentenced three British nationals who had faced warnings they could receive the death penalty for smuggling cocaine to 12 months in prison after they were found to have violated Indonesian narcotics law. That case involved packages hidden in food packets and drew attention in British and Indonesian media because the defendants received reduced sentences after admitting guilt and showing contrition, court records said.
Prosecutors will now complete formal investigations before charges are filed and the case progresses through Indonesia’s legal system. The National Narcotics Agency said it planned to provide results of its inquiries at the scheduled press conference. The Foreign Office said consular staff continue to offer support to the detainees and their families while liaising with Indonesian authorities.