13 foreign tourists nabbed in antidrugs raid in Bali

DENPASAR, Bali (JP): As many as 13 foreign tourists, comprising nine French nationals, three Italians and one Swede, were arrested on Sunday in an anti-narcotics raid in the Krobokan area, around five kilometers north of the famous tourist resort of Kuta.

Police said on Monday the foreigners were caught red-handed in an alleged drugs orgy at a rented bungalow in Kuwun hamlet, where 13.2 grams of hashish and cocaine were seized from them.

The nine French nationals were identified as businessman Stiv Jaovy (28), Moshe Lastri (23), student Benjamin Cohn (23), fashion stylist Christophe Pauvat (39), shoemaker David Uzan (35), reporter Laurent Tayeb (23), as well as three fashion designers Bernard Alimi (45), Christian Audigier (42), and David Feder (25).

The three Italians were identified as Vinzenza Delia (35), and two female students Claudia Fontanarosa (28) and Pilar Sanjust (23), while the only Swede was identified as Simona (44).

The Italian Honorary Consul in Bali, Giuseppe Confessa, said no lawyer had yet to be hired, pending the completion of the Indonesian Police investigation.

Badung Police chief Supt. DBM Suharya confirmed the arrest, but refused to disclose any details. He just said that the suspects had undergone urine tests, "and police are still waiting for the test results."

"I couldn't give you any details either on the raid or our personnel involved in the operation. That might ruin our future operations," he said.

Police sources in Badung said that a special narcotics unit had spied on the rented house for at least one week prior to the raid, which was conducted at 3:00 a.m. local time.

"There was a party going on in the bungalow. The music was loud and all the suspects were inside the building when we entered the building. We caught them red-handed," an officer, who asked for anonymity said.

The officers found 10.2 grams of hashish stashed in the bungalow's refrigerator, 2.5 grams of cocaine on a table in the room where the party was taking place and another 0.5 grams of hashish in Christian Audigier's jacket.

It was the French nationals who rented the bungalow, the officer said.

All the suspects are now being detained at the Badung Police Station for further questioning. (zen)