The 42-year-old woman has been charged under Indonesia’s harsh narcotics law and could face the death penalty if found guilty.
The Peruvian woman is escorted during a press conference at Bali’s police station in Denpasar. (EPA Images pic)
DENPASAR: A Peruvian woman has been arrested in Indonesia’s Bali after allegedly trying to smuggle cocaine into the resort island using a sex toy and hiding drugs in her underwear, police said Tuesday.
The 42-year-old, identified only by her initials N.S., arrived at Bali’s international airport from Qatar on Aug 12, when authorities became suspicious.
“The customs officers suspected her behaviour, and after consulting with the police, they did a further check on her,” Bali police narcotics unit director, Radiant, who like many Indonesians has one name, told a press conference.
The officers found 1.4kg (3.1 pounds) of cocaine inside a sex toy hidden in her genitals and in her underwear. Police also accused her of smuggling dozens of ecstasy pills.
The Peruvian woman told the police she was hired to transport the drugs to Indonesia by a man she met on the dark web in April in return for US$20,000, said Radiant.
The woman has been charged under Indonesia’s harsh narcotics law and could face the death penalty if found guilty.
Last month, a Bali court sentenced a 46-year-old Argentine to seven years in prison after she was found guilty of smuggling 244 grams of cocaine wrapped with a condom that she hid inside her genitals.
Indonesia has some of the world’s toughest drug laws.
There are dozens of traffickers on death row in the country, including a cocaine-smuggling British grandmother.
Indonesia last carried out executions in 2016, killing one Indonesian and three Nigerian drug convicts by firing squad.
