'Missing Briton's lover had drug record'

Wahyoe Boediwardhana, The Jakarta Post, Denpasar, Bali

The Bali Police remain unable to obtain significant clues to locate British aid worker Kate Osborne, 35, but they did reveal that her boyfriend, who is also missing, had a history of involvement in the illegal drug trade.

Police said on Thursday they learned that Kate's Peruvian boyfriend identified as Jose Henricci, and sometimes called Joseph, was involved in illegal drug trafficking along with several friends, identified as Bruno, Voka and Rodrigo.

"Our criminal investigation division data shows that Joseph and Rodrigo once were involved in the illegal drug trade in Bali," Bali police spokesman Sr. Comr. Pangasihan Gaut said.

Gaut admitted that he was unable to provide further information on the nature and scale of Joseph's involvement in the drug business or whether it was connected to Osborne's disappearance.

The disappearance of the aid worker has triggered an official investigation by the British police.

A native of Carlisle, northern England, Osborne has been missing since April 18. She left her personal belongings behind and never made any contact with her parents. Her bank account has remained untouched.

Police here have also learned that Henricci owed Osborne some money. Osborne's housemaids, Ni Ketut Daya and Sumardana, said Henricci had left Bali for Peru on March 28.

"Osborne expressed her intention to follow Henricci to Peru once the man paid back his debt," Gaut said.

Curiously, although Osborne's abandoned car was found on April 21 in the parking area of the Ngurah Rai International Airport, the airport authority did not find Osborne's name on its lists of outbound or inbound passengers from April to May.

However, the name Joseph appeared on the April 13 list of incoming passengers to Bali. The police were still following up on that information.

"A special team of five investigators has been established to conduct a thorough investigation and search for Kate Osborne," Gaut added.

The Bali police have alerted Interpol and the local police across the province's nine regencies about the case.

"There is a possibility that Kate Osborne left Bali by another method other than flying. That's why we have also alerted the immigration offices in several other provinces," Gaut told.

Two British police detectives and Osborne's parents arrived in Bali earlier this week to assist the investigation.