Richard Smarr of originally from New Zealand, was arrested Wednesday (20/9) in a restaurant on Jln.

Danau Poso in Sanur for selling marijuana.

Police claim they were tipped off by a member of the public regarding the mans activities and caught him red-handed selling 6 packets of marijuana totalling 42.5 grams.

Australian arrested for drug possession in Bali

AN AUSTRALIAN arrested on drug charges in Bali is facing up to five years' imprisonment.

Michelle Condon, 35, from Port Melbourne, was apprehended carrying 0.2 grams of "shabu shabu", or crystal methamphetamine, police in Denpasar alleged yesterday.

A police spokesman said Condon was a regular visitor to Bali who sang in bars around Kuta Beach. She was detained after being searched by police in Denpasar last Thursday.

The spokesman said police found the drugs wrapped in tissue paper inside her belt bag.

Indications were that Condon was a user, not a dealer, police said, and she had admitted ownership of the drugs.

An emotional Condon cried during questioning and screamed abuse at photographers as she was escorted through Bali's police headquarters.

She has been charged with drug possession offences that carry a maximum penalty of five years.

However, if she pleads that they were for personal use and she was addicted, she could receive a three-month penalty — as did model Michelle Leslie for ecstasy possession last year.

Condon is the latest in a string of Australians apprehended on drugs charges in Bali, despite widespread publicity about anti-drugs crackdowns. If found guilty, she would join convicted marijuana smuggler Schapelle Corby and members of the Bali nine heroin smuggling syndicate in Bali's Kerobokan prison.

Corby is serving 20 years for importing four kilograms of marijuana into Denpasar. Of the Bali nine, six are on death row, two are serving life sentences and the other a 20-year term.

The Indonesian police said Tuesday an Australian woman was detained on the resort island of Bali and charged with the country's tough anti-drug law, which so far has put seven other Australians on death row.

Michele Couldorn, 35, was arrested last week for illegal possession of 0.2 gram of amphetamine, Bali police spokesperson Sri Harmiti told local media in the provincial capital of Denpasar.

According to the preliminary investigation, Couldorn was suspected as a user instead of trafficker, Harmiti said.

"But the investigation doesn't stop here and will continue until we get the clear picture," he said.

Couldorn has stayed in Bali for five years but has regularly returned to Australia. She told the police the amphetamine was bought from an unknown local resident for her personal use and not for trade.

Harmiti said the suspect could face up to five years in prison if convicted.

The Supreme Court earlier this year handed death sentence to seven out of nine members of an Australian drug ring for attempting to smuggle more than four kg of heroin. The remaining two of the group get life sentence.

Source: Xinhua

FPSS Note: Michele Couldorn listed above should be Michelle Condon.