RI to begin random drug tests in Bali

RI to begin random drug tests in Bali

Indonesian police on the vacation island of Bali will introduce
random drug testing of tourists, an Australian newspaper reported
on Sunday.

Police will force patrons of nightclubs to take urine tests in
an effort to stop the illicit drug trade, Bali drug squad police
chief Bambang Sugiarto told The Sun Herald.

At least 11 Australians sit in Indonesian jail cells awaiting
drug charges or trial.

Canberra began sending e-mails last week to thousands of
Australians living and vacationing in Indonesia, warning that a
police crackdown on drugs is under way.

Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said on Sunday he supported
Indonesia's tougher stance against illegal drugs.

"I think the Indonesians are right to crack down on drug use
in Indonesia and drug trafficking," Downer told reporters in his
home town of Adelaide.

"I agree with the Indonesians in this respect, in that I think
drugs are wrong," he added.

Downer said Australians caught with illegal drugs would not be
given any special treatment under the new testing regime.

He did not elaborate on the methods to be used by Indonesian
authorities to conduct the drug tests.

The move comes two weeks after 24-year-old model Michelle
Leslie was arrested at a dance party in Bali for allegedly
carrying two ecstasy tablets in her Gucci bag.

The same day, Graham Clifford Payne, an Australian teaching
English on the Indonesian island of Sumatra, was arrested while
allegedly in possession of heroin and crystal meth.

Another nine Australians are in a Bali jail awaiting trial on
heroin smuggling charges that could see them sentenced to death.
-- AP