An Australian schoolies reveller has been arrested and held by police in Bali for alleged posession of drugs.
According to Nine News, the 18-year old is Jamie Murphy from Perth. It is being reported that he was arrested after security guards at a Kuta nightclub allegedly discovered a satchel on him contianing a small amount of white powder.
Footage of Murphy being searched by security and police has been released. In it, the teenager can be seen to be sitting in a chair, restrained with his hands behind his back, while the guards remove his bum-bag, in the presence of what looks like a police officer.
When they open the bum-bag, a small plastic zip-lock baggie can be seen inside.
Whe one of the guards removes the baggy into the open for the camera, Murphy can be heard protesting: “Are you kidding me? It was not like that.”
Indonesian authorities have been very vocal in recent weeks about Australian school leavers coming to Bali to party for Schoolies, warning them that they faced jail if caught with drugs.
Australia’s relationship with Indonesia over drugs arrests in the country have a choppy recent history, with the notorious conviction and imprisonment of Schapelle Corby and the execution of Bali Nine ringleaders Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran just last year.
Both of those high profile cases were for trafficking significant amounts of drugs, however Indonesia’s laws are very strict and if Murphy was found guilty of posession of even the small amount seen in the video, he could nonetheless be facing jail of a year or more.
IMAGE: Library image from The3Cats