(7/19/2010)
Customs officials at Bali Ngurah Rai International Airport arrested a 41 year-old Philippine woman on Monday, July 12, 2010, carrying 2.5 kilograms of heroin.
Caroline Sarmiento Bautista arrived in Bali on AirAsia 364 from Kuala Lumpur at 7:30 p.m. carrying a suitcase with a secret compartments in which the drugs were concealed.
The estimated street value of the drugs was placed by officials at Rp. 7.2 billion (US$783,000).
As reported by the Bali Post, the stash of heroin was uncovered after the woman's luggage failed the custom's x-ray screening. When inspectors asked the woman to allow her bag to undergo further examination she reportedly became extremely nervous.
When opened, officials found the narcotics and took the woman into custody.
During preliminary interviews with investigators, Bautista said she was on holiday in Malaysia when she met an Indian man who persuaded her to carry the suitcase to Bali. She was reportedly offered Rp. 10 million (US$1,086) for her part in the scheme.
If convicted for smuggling narcotics into Indonesia the woman could receive the death penalty.
© Bali
Discovery Tours. Articles may be quoted and reproduced
if attributed to http://www.balidiscovery.com.
