Bali | Brazilian, South African could face death penalty for smuggling 4kg of drugs into Bali

Two people from Brazil and South Africa have been charged in Indonesia for allegedly trying to smuggle 4 kilograms (8.8 pounds) of drugs into Bali, the anti-narcotics agency said Thursday.

The pair were travelling separately when they were arrested on July 13 at the resort island's international airport and could face the death penalty if found guilty.

The Brazilian man was allegedly carrying 2 plastic bags containing just over 3 kilograms of cocaine in his backpack and luggage, I Made Sinar Subawa, from the local anti-narcotics agency, told a news conference.

Made said the suspect was a courier and had been told to deliver the package to a man living in Bali.

The South African woman was arrested after arriving from Singapore on the same day with nearly 1 kilogram of crystal methamphetamine allegedly hidden in her clothing.

"Based on the interrogation, she confessed that she was ordered to carry the meth from Johannesburg to Bali, to be delivered to someone in Bali," Made said.

Indonesia has some of the world's toughest drug laws, including the death penalty for traffickers.

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 1 Indonesian and 3 Nigerian drug convicts by firing squad.

Source: Agence France-Presse, Staff, July 25, 2025

"One is absolutely sickened, not by the crimes that the wicked have committed,
but by the punishments that the good have inflicted."

— Oscar Wilde

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