Middle-aged British housewife, 56, facing death penalty after being caught 'smuggling cocaine worth £1.6million from Bangkok to Bali'

-Lindsay Sandiford was caught with '4.7kg of drugs in lining of suitcase'
-The haul had been hidden under water bottles, according to Bali police
-Sandiford, 56, was arrested and agreed to take part in a sting operation
-She claimed: 'I carried the drugs because my children were threatened'
-Housewife then led police to four other suspects, including a British couple
-All five were paraded as a press conference with the smuggled cocaine
-Officials told reporters the group was part of a 'big international network'
-Maximum sentence for drug trafficking in Indonesia is death by firing squad


By Richard Shears and Emma Reynolds

Distressed: Alleged drug trafficker identified as Lindsay Sandiford in front of the huge pile of cocaine at the Customs Office in Denpasar, Bali, today

The British middle-aged woman facing the death penalty for allegedly trafficking cocaine worth £1.6 million into Bali has been branded a 'neighbour from hell'.

Housewife Lindsay Sandiford, 56, was allegedly caught with 4.7kg of the Class A drug hidden in a suitcase when she landed on the Indonesian island.

The mother-of-two is currently understood to be living in Redcar, Cleveland, but was previously a tenant in a £275,000 detached property in Cheltenham, Glos.

Yesterday neighbours described how she outwardly appeared to be a respectable middle class mother - but was actually a nuisance neighbour.

Strict laws: Smuggling drugs on to the Indonesian island can result in a maximum penalty of death by firing squad

Balinese police today paraded all five suspects at two press conferences in the capital city of Denpasar.

Sandiford, who had allegedly been caught with 4.7 kilograms (11 pounds) of cocaine, covered her head and appeared to weep as she sat behind the Class A haul.

She was dressed in a standard-issue orange T-shirt and still wearing her glasses and jewellery.

Customs official Made Wijaya told reporters that Sandiford's innocent demeanour was just an act.

'Despite what you see as a seemingly unassuming appearance, we believe that she has been part of a international narcotics syndicate for a long time,' he said.
'This is a big international network.'.

The package was cut open with a knife during the press conference to reveal white powder.


'Conspirators': A younger British woman, centre, and three others suspected of being on hand to receive the drugs were arrested and dressed in prison uniforms with their faces covered by black balaclavas


Paraded: Three Britons and an Indian national were seen dressed in ill-fitting orange outfits and flip-flops after their arrests

Shamed: The suspected smugglers are lined up in front of the media, all with their faces covered aside from Mrs Sandiford

The other four suspects were 'shown off' separately by police. However, they had their faces covered with balaclavas.

All were dressed in orange prison uniforms while one wore shorts and green flip-flops under his overalls

The married couple, who own a villa in Bali, according to the The Jakarta Post, have only been identified as JAP and RLD.

RLD shouted angrily, 'It's a fit-up', and indicated that the evidence had been planted.

Sandiford was arrested on May 19 at Denpasar airport after arriving on a Thai Airways flight from Bangkok, according to Mr Wijaya.

The drugs were in the lining of her suitcase covered by water bottles. They were found after security staff put the luggage through an x-ray machine.

When Sandiford was interviewed by police she broke down and claimed that her children, who live in the UK, had been threatened and that was the only reason she had agreed to smuggle the drugs.

She subsequently consented to take part in the sting operation and delivered the cocaine to JAP, who was arrested.

He directed officers to his villa in Tabanan where police discovered 48.94g of cocaine hidden in a black bag and arrested his wife, RLD.


Humiliated: The British housewife covered her face with her hand today after she was arrested at Bali's international airport after alighting from an aeroplane

On show: The suspect accused of hiding 4.7kg (11lbs) of cocaine in her luggage is led through a custom office in Denpasar, Bali

All were dressed in orange prison uniforms while one wore shorts and green flip-flops under his overalls. The married couple, who own a villa in Bali, according to the The Jakarta Post, have only been identified as JAP and RLD.

RLD shouted angrily, 'It's a fit-up', and indicated that the evidence had been planted. Sandiford was arrested on May 19 at Denpasar airport after arriving on a Thai Airways flight from Bangkok, according to Mr Wijaya.

The drugs were in the lining of her suitcase covered by water bottles. They were found after security staff put the luggage through an x-ray machine.

When Sandiford was interviewed by police she broke down and claimed that her children, who live in the UK, had been threatened and that was the only reason she had agreed to smuggle the drugs.

She subsequently consented to take part in the sting operation and delivered the cocaine to JAP, who was arrested.

He directed officers to his villa in Tabanan where police discovered 48.94g of cocaine hidden in a black bag and arrested his wife, RLD.

Using information extracted from these two suspects, police were able to capture the other two suspects the next day, kompas.com reported today.

They arrested NA, the Indian national, in a villa in Badung, where they found 78 plastic bags filled with ecstasy. They arrested PB in a villa in Kuta with 3.36 grams of hashish.

Police said they will continue to use Sandiford to lure out other members of the alleged Bali drug syndicate.

Island paradise: Bali was once a haven for drugs but in the past ten years the authorities have cracked down on the importation of narcotics and anyone found with more than a few grams of Class A drugs faces death

If convicted, all five face a maximum penalty of death by firing squad. Mr Wijaya said that Bali was working hard to stop international smugglers who brought drugs on to the island.

'If this woman, and anyone else who is subsequently charged, is found guilty, the punishment will be the death penalty,' he said.

Bali regularly parades suspected drug smugglers - and their wares - in front of the press in a deliberate effort to shame them

Indonesia has extremely strict drug laws and convicted smugglers can be executed, with more than 140 people currently on death row, a third of them foreigners.

Bali was once a haven for drugs but in the past ten years the authorities have cracked down on the importation of narcotics and anyone found with more than a few grams of Class A drugs faces death.

One of the most famous Western detainees is 35-year-old Australian Schapelle Corby, who was convicted of smuggling 9.2lbs of marijuana on to the island.

She is serving a 20-year sentence, which has been reduced in recent months, and she hopes to receive parole by 2015.

Last November, a 14-year-old Australian boy was sentenced to two months in a brutal jail on the holiday island for alleged possession of marijuana.

Two members of Australian drug smuggling gang the 'Bali Nine', arrested in 2005, are on death row, while seven others face lengthy jail terms.

In February, 53-year-old Jack Walker from Greater Manchester, was given a reprieve when he was told he would not face the death penalty after allegedly being caught with a large quantity of crystal meth.

A Foreign Office spokesman said: 'We are aware of the arrest in Bali, and we stand ready to provide consular assistance.'


Spectacular: Hundreds of thousands of tourists visit Bali every year for the sublime views



source:dailymail