Kuta: A British citizen Stephen Russel Hakes (58) was caught red-handed carrying three grams of marijuana by the Customs and Excise Office at Ngurah Rai, Denpasar, Bali.
“The marijuana was hidden in his rectum,” Head of Supervision and Service of the Customs and Excise Office at Ngurah Rai, Bali, Budi Harjanto stated here on Wednesday.
The British national, born in Watford, England, on December 26, 1958, was arrested shortly after landing at the Ngurah Rai International Airport on January 9 at 12 p.m. local time. He arrived from Dong Mueang, Thailand, aboard AirAsia flight FD-396 to Denpasar.
Using technology capable of tracking passenger movement, the officers were suspicious of Hakes when the aircraft landed. The ground officers closely observed him at the arrival corridor, immigration checkpoint, and during inspection in the custom area.
At first, the officers manually checked Hakes luggage and then continued the process using X-ray scanning equipment, but they did not find any suspicious items.
The officers suspicions led them to conduct a body check on Hakes.
They eventually found a clear plastic bag containing some parts of brown plants.
Double-checking through a narcotic test revealed the presence of marijuana or hashish weighing three grams.
As a result of his action, Hakes is believed to have violated Article 113, paragraph (1) of Law No. 35 of 2009 on narcotics.
If found guilty, Hakes would have to face a minimum five years to a maximum 15 years of jail term in addition to a fine of between Rp1 billion and Rp10 billion.
