Indonesian court charges Australian for smuggling drugs in his stomach

DENPASAR, Indonesia — An Indonesian court charged an Australian man Wednesday with smuggling drugs into the resort island of Bali in his stomach.

Edward Norman Myatt, 54, was arrested in late February at the Ngurah Rai airport in Bali and was charged with “producing and smuggling drugs,” prosecutor Gusti Putu Atmaja told the Denpasar district court.

Myatt had flown from London to New Delhi to pick up hashish and methamphetamines before transiting in Bangkok and then flying to Bali, Atmaja said.

“He swallowed 70 capsules of hashish weighing 1,103 grams, and a capsule of methamphetamine weighing seven grams,” he said.

Myatt appeared calm in court but did not speak to reporters.

While the charge carries the death sentence, Indonesia rarely enforces capital punishment for smuggling small amounts of drugs, handing down lengthy jail terms instead.

Two Australians are on death row in Bali’s Kerobokan prison for smuggling large amounts of heroin strapped to their bodies, while several others are serving long jail terms for drug crimes.

© 2012 AFP