T

he Denpasar Police have arrested a man who is believed to be the boyfriend of Schapelle Leigh Corby, a convicted Australian drug smuggler, for possessing a total of 8.85 grams of marijuana.

Bernard P. Simanjuntak, popularly known as Ben Panangian, was caught in front of a house on Jl. Perumahan Nusa Dua, South Kuta, on Aug 20.

The police were at the house to arrest another suspect, identified only as TMY.

Officers became suspicious after Ben threw a package away as the police approached him.

'€œPolice then picked it up and opened it and apparently it contained marijuana,'€ Denpasar Police chief Sr. Comr. Djoko Hari Utomo said, adding that the package weighed 0.64 grams.

Further investigation revealed another packet of marijuana in Ben'€™s rented room on Jl. Perjuangan Kuta. The 8.21 grams of marijuana was found in a wardrobe.

Police will charge Ben under Article 111 subsection (1) of the 2009 Narcotics Law, which carries a minimum sentence of four years and a maximum sentence of 12 years in prison.

Ben is believed to have been in a close relationship with Corby for several years.

They met for the first time in Kerobokan prison, where both were prisoners. At that time, the 32-year-old man was serving a sentence for a drugs conviction. He also served time in Bangli prison before being released.

Although Corby and Ben'€™s relationship was rumored to have ended years ago, Ben was known to continue to visit Corby during her time in prison before her release in February this year.

On May, the couple were spotted by Australian media in front of Corby'€™s sister'€™s shop.

Meanwhile, the Drug Section head of Denpasar Police, Comr. I Gede Ganefo, declined to comment on Ben'€™s status as Corby'€™s boyfriend.

'€œWe didn'€™t know about that. I don'€™t really care whether he is Corby'€™s boyfriend or not. We are only focused on the case,'€ he said, insisting that Ben was alone when he was arrested.

Head of Bali Correctional Center (Bapas), Ketut Artha, confirmed that the drug case being faced by Corby'€™s boyfriend would not affect Corby'€™s parole.

'€œThe case is about her boyfriend and will not have an impact on her parole, as it does not involve her directly,'€ he said.

Corby was arrested at Ngurah Rai International Airport in Denpasar in October 2004 for smuggling 4.2 kilograms of marijuana.

She was later sentenced to 20 years in prison.

However, in addition to receiving various sentence reductions for good behavior from prison authorities, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono granted her a five-year sentence reduction in 2012.

In February this year, Corby was released on parole.

However, she has to live in Bali under the supervision of the correctional board until the end of her sentence in 2016, plus an additional year after that. She therefore must remain until 2017. She could be returned to prison if she commits any other crime while on parole.