DENPASAR: An Indonesian court sentenced five foreigners to prison on Thursday in separate drug smuggling cases involving cocaine.
The cases highlight Indonesia’s strict anti-drug laws, which include the death penalty for traffickers, though executions have been on hold since 2017.
Argentine national Eleonora Gracia, 46, received a seven-year prison term after being caught at Bali’s international airport in March with 244 grams of cocaine concealed in her body.
“Gracia was arrested with the drugs hidden inside her genitals,“ authorities said.
Her cooperation led to the arrest of British national Elliot James Shaw, 50, who was sentenced to five and a half years and fined 1 billion rupiah (\$61,400).
In a separate case, three other British nationals—Jonathan Christopher Collyer, 38, Lisa Ellen Stocker, 39, and Phineas Ambrose Float, 31—were each jailed for one year for smuggling nearly one kilogram of cocaine.
The trio was arrested in February after airport officials found 17 drug packages.
The disparity in sentencing between the two cases remains unclear, as Gracia and Shaw were convicted of trafficking smaller quantities.
Indonesia has not executed any drug convicts since 2017, but its laws remain among the harshest globally.
President Prabowo Subianto’s administration has recently repatriated several foreign drug offenders, signalling possible shifts in enforcement. – AFP
