Australian duo arrested in Bali nightclub face 12-year jail sentence for cocaine possession
- William Cabantog, 36, and David Van Iersel, 38, had been living in Bali for several months
- They admitted to having bought and used the drug after police found cocaine in Cabantog’s pants at a nightclub raid
William Cabantog, 36, and David Van Iersel, 38, were caught on Friday night at a nightclub in Canggu, a popular tourist hotspot on the holiday island.
Police said they found a bag with 1.1 grams of cocaine in Cabantog’s trousers during the raid. Both men admitted to having bought and used the drug, they added.
The pair had lived in Bali for several months, police said.
“We received a tip-off that some Australians were using drugs so we investigated the case for a week and it turned out the information was true,” Denpasar police chief Ruddi Setiawan told a press conference Tuesday.
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The pair face a maximum 12 years in prison and an 800 million rupiah (US$57,000) fine if found guilty.
Foreigners are regularly arrested for drugs offences in Bali and several have been executed by firing squad, including Australians Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran in 2015, a case that sparked a diplomatic row between Australia and Indonesia.
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Corby was deported in 2017 after several years of parole.