"will those idiots ever learn?"

An Australian man has gone on trial in Bali accused of importing nearly two kilograms of methamphetamine from Thailand.

Prosecutors in Bali have confirmed they are charging Michael Sacatides with drugs crimes that could carry the death penalty.

Sacatides says he knew nothing of the 1.7 kilograms of methamphetamine found in his luggage when he arrived at Denpasar airport from Bangkok in October.

Today in court he was grim-faced and silent as he was led away to the holding cells.

The 43-year-old sports instructor says he did not know the drugs were in the bag he had borrowed from an Indian man, Akaleshi Tripathi, who he had befriended while living in Bangkok.

But the prosecutors have dismissed that argument, and Sacatides's lawyer, Erwin Siregar, acknowledges it carries no weight in Indonesian law.

"The drugs law does not mention whether you have planning, whether you make a mistake. As long as it's in your suitcase, it's you," he said.

Mr Siregar says police must try harder to find the mysterious Indian man.

"This is the key, because he is the one who I presume imported the drugs, not my client," he said.

He says Sacatides is an innocent dupe.

"He had nothing to do with this. He doesn't know about this," he said.

Mr Siregar is the lawyer who represented convicted drug smuggler Schapelle Corby.

The same argument was used in her failed defence.

The defence plans to call an Australian criminologist during the trial and they are expected to argue that he does not fit the profile of a drug courier.

The trial will resume early next month.

In the meantime Sacatides is being held in the same jail as Corby and members of the Bali Nine drug ring.

Obviuosly this woman didn't!!!!


Thai Smuggler Swallowed 1,200 Ecstasy Pills:

Denpasar. A Thai woman swallowed more than 1,200 ecstasy pills wrapped in plastic and tried to smuggle them into the Indonesian resort island of Bali, officials said Monday.

Customs officials said Ueamduen Sophawat, 24, appeared nervous and was found to have a hard stomach during a body search at Bali's international airport as she arrived Thursday on a flight from Bangkok.

She was taken to hospital and 1,280 ecstasy pills were found in her stomach, Bali customs chief I Made Wijaya told a press conference.

"The pills were in a number of plastic wraps which she swallowed about 90 times," Wijaya said.

They weighed of 402 grams (0.9 pounds) and were worth about 448 million rupiah (50,000 dollars), he said.

The woman, who claimed to be a dancer in Bangkok, told investigators that an Israeli man had offered to pay her 656 dollars to deliver the pills to Bali, one of Asia's most popular destinations for Western tourists, Wijaya said.

If convicted she faces life imprisonment or death under Indonesia's tough anti-drug laws.

(this x the Jak Globe)

24 jaar........je moet toch wel in zeer hoge nood verkeren als je je leven voor $ 656,00 wil riskeren.........