T

he Bali chapter of the National Narcotics Agency (BNN) has arrested a woman for possessing methamphetamine, claiming the drug had been distributed by a syndicate operating out of the Kerobokan penitentiary.

BNN officers apprehended the 31-year old mother of one, identified only as TS, at her boarding house in Darmasaba village, Badung regency, on Friday and confiscated 170.35 grams of methamphetamine and 159.95 grams of amphetamine, packed in many small plastic packages and ready to be distributed.

'€œShe told us that the drugs belonged to her boss, [identified as] AD, a prisoner at Kerobokan prison. Control is exercised from the prison,'€ BNN Bali chief Brig. Gen. Putu Gede Suastawa told journalists at a press conference on Monday.

Suastawa added that BNN also seized three mobile phones, a digital scale, small plastic packages and a book listing transactions.

At the press conference, TS admitted to having received instructions from an inmate at Kerobokan prison named Andre. '€œAndre has the drugs. He just told me to give them to his friend. He said his friend would call me to pick them up,'€ TS said.

TS, from of Bondowoso in East Java, elaborated that she had met Andre some thee months ago when she was visiting her boyfriend at the prison. At that time, Andre had asked for her phone number. '€œLater in the day, he called, asking for help by picking up a package [of drugs] from his wife and keeping it somewhere. I did it and got Rp 1 million [US$71],'€ she said. TS claimed that had been the second time she picked up drugs.

On Dec. 23, BNN Bali arrested another suspect allegedly tied to drug dealing from Kerobokan prison. The 28-year-old suspect identified as SW, a resident of Banyuwangi in East Java, was caught at his boarding house in Sidakarya village, Denpasar.

BNN seized 28 plastic packages of methamphetamine weighing 22.21 grams and 9 plastic packages of amphetamines weighing a total of 5.87 grams. SW told investigators that he had received the drugs from BD, a prisoner at the penitentiary.

Suastawa said his team was further investigating drug business operations at Kerobokan. '€œWe will coordinate with the prison management to question prisoners who were mentioned by the suspects,'€ he said.

Earlier, police seized at least two kilograms of marijuana, more than 200 grams of methamphetamine and a marijuana tree in the prison during a raid. The drugs were found along with hundreds of sharp weapons, a gun and other illicit items. The sweeping operation, involving prison guards and military personnel, followed a brawl at the prison that left two prisoners dead and two others injured. The brawl triggered another clash outside the prison between members of two groups, which resulted in two more deaths.

Meanwhile, Bali Governor Made Mangku Pastika has proposed a relocation of Kerobokan prisoners, saying that the move was urgent due to many problems at the overcrowded facility.

'€œThe prison is also home to many foreign prisoners, which makes relocation very urgent,'€ Pastika said on Monday in a meeting with the Law and Human Rights Ministry'€™s director general in charge of penitentiaries, I Wayan Kusmiantha Dusak.

Located on a 4-hectare plot of land in Kerobokan village in Badung regency, the penitentiary holds around 1,000 prisoners, far exceeding its official capacity of 323 prisoners. There are also 62 foreign inmates of 22 nationalities currently serving jail time at Kerobokan.

Pastika proposed a plot next to a landfill site in Suwung, Denpasar, which is owned by the provincial administration, to be used for a new prison to replace the Kerobokan penitentiary.

Kusmiantha Dusak welcomed the governor'€™s proposal, saying he would follow up the plan.