'You can’t bribe crocodiles': it's not a Bond film, it's Indonesia’s frightening plan to stop drug convicts escaping a prison island

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In a scene from Live and Let Die, some crocodiles get a little snappy at James Bond's feet. Photo: SCMP Pictures

Published: 8:30pm, 9 Nov 2015Updated: 4:05pm, 10 Nov 2015

Indonesia’s anti-drugs agency has proposed building a prison on an island guarded by crocodiles to hold death row drug convicts, an official said, an idea that wouldn’t be out of place in a James Bond film.

The proposal is the pet project of anti-drugs chief Budi Waseso, who plans to visit various parts of the archipelago in his search for fierce reptiles to guard the jail.

“We will place as many crocodiles as we can there. I will search for the most ferocious type of crocodile,” he was quoted as saying by local news website Tempo.

Waseso said that crocodiles would be better at preventing drug traffickers from escaping prison as they could not be bribed - unlike human guards.

Only moments earlier the British spy pondered his next move after realising the tiny island he's standing on is in the middle of a crocodile-infested pond. Photo: SCMP Picture

But he is banking on the convicts lacking Roger Moore’s crocodile-running skills showcased in Bond movie Live and Let Die when he escapes from an island using the reptiles as stepping stones.

“You can’t bribe crocodiles. You can’t convince them to let inmates escape.”