Pubdate: Tue, 31 May 2005
Source: Australian Broadcasting Corporation (Australia Web)
Copyright: 2005 Australian Broadcasting Corporation
Website: http://www.abc.net.au/
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/people/Schapelle (Schapelle Corby)

BALI POLICE CHIEF DECLARES WAR ON DRUGS

Bali's police chief has declared an all out war on drugs on the resort
island.

However, Made Mangku Pastika insists the crackdown will not hurt
tourism, because tourists will always be welcome in Bali and enjoy
full police protection.

"It's an all-out war," General Pastika told Reuters
newsagency.

"We are not just blindly catching the small suspects and the petty
offenders," he said.

"We are going after the big ones - the big bosses - locals and
foreigners."

General Pastika says Bali welcomes foreign tourists.

"In fact we depend on them, especially the Australians, but please
don't come with drugs to the island," General Pastika said.

General Pastika says Bali is a market for the illegal drugs trade,
partly because of the demand by foreigners.

Tourists are often approached on Bali's beaches, streets and clubs by
locals, including police informants, offering to sell drugs.

Despite Bali's long association with marijuana, the chief of
Indonesia's anti-narcotics agency, Sutanto, says the most common
illegal drugs seized in Bali are heroin followed by ecstasy.

"Most heroin coming through Bali is from the Golden Triangle. Some
stays on the island while the rest is in transit," Sutanto told Reuters.

General Pastika says it would be unrealistic to impose stricter checks
at points of entry into Bali because that would irritate foreign tourists.

"How do you distinguish a trafficker with a tourist? This is where
intelligence plays a key role. We are sharpening our intelligence and
we work with international police so we don't make the wrong arrests,"
General Pastika said.

Police are also working to combat what General Pastika says are
increasing cases of child sexual abuse by foreigners, especially in
the northern and poorer part of the island, away from the famous Kuta
beach area in the south.

Last year, a Bali court sentenced a former Australian diplomat to 13
years in jail after he was found guilty of lewd conduct with two
teenage boys. The defendant, William Brown, committed suicide inside
his cell not long after sentencing.

General Pastika says that despite the focus on foreign crime, the top
priority for police is to protect foreign tourists.

"In return, we only ask that good people come to Bali," General
Pastika said.

On Friday, a court in Denpasar sentenced Australian beauty therapist
Schapelle Corby, 27, to 20 years in jail for smuggling more than four
kilograms of marijuana into Bali last year.

She had insisted the drugs were planted in her luggage in Australia
and has lodged an appeal against the sentence. 
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