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American bag designer arrested for possession of marijuana
Dicky Christanto , The Jakarta Post , Denpasar | Sat, 10/11/2008 11:25 AM | Bali
An American national has been arrested for possession of hashish and marijuana, according to police. The American, identified as Joseph Marinari, was detained at the Bali Police jail for questioning.
"We are still questioning him, although he has admitted to buying the hashish for personal use,' Bali Police spokeswoman Adj. Sr. Comr. Sri Harmiti told a press conference Friday.
Harmiti said Marinari had admitted to ordering the illegal substance over the Internet.
"But of course we can't fully trust this information, which is why we will conduct a case reconstruction and question more witnesses," she added. The identities of the witnesses were not disclosed.
The 33-year-old American, who had been working as a bag designer for a boutique in Seminyak for the past three years, was arrested in his rented villa in Seminyak on Sept. 18 during an anti-drugs operation conducted by the police.
Harmiti said the police did not immediately inform the press about the arrest as they were still gathering information about the person who sold the hashish and marijuana to Marinari.
"We didn't want the narcotics dealer knowing we had one of their clients in custody," she said.
The arresting officers found 14.7 grams of hashish, three marijuana plants, 11 grams of marijuana seeds and 0.4 grams of dried leaves.
"During our search we found marijuana trees in three different locations, namely the garage, bedroom and the villa's backyard," she said.
Marinari is charged with possession of illegal narcotics. If proved guilty he faces a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison and a fine of up to Rp 500 million (US$500,000).
Meanwhile, a team of narcotics agents from the Denpasar Police charged Sidik Waskito with possession of ecstasy pills and marijuana. Waskito was arrested in his rented house in Denpasar after receiving a package containing 174 ecstasy pills and 8.3 grams of marijuana.
"We are now questioning him to get information about the sender of the package," Denpasar Police spokesman Comr. Ketut Suwetra said.
