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wo Bali Police officers are set to face an ethics tribunal for extorting money from a drug dealer.

Bali Police chief Sugeng Priyanto said on Tuesday that the two men would be punished for their offenses.

“We will punish them in order to bring about a deterrent effect on other personnel,” Sugeng said.

According to National Police Chief Regulation No. 14/2011, ethics violations can incur a range of punishments, from a warning to demotion or dismissal.

The two officers have already admitted the extortion.

As well as facing the internal tribunal, Sugeng said the pair might be tried in court.

The officers, identified as Second Brig. DA and Second Brig. EP, both members of the Bali Police intelligence division, were arrested by personnel from the force’s internal affairs division.

On June 22, at 10 p.m., as DA was monitoring the area around the Circle K minimarket on Jl. Umalas, Kerobokan subdistrict, he noticed a suspicion transaction between a foreigner and a local man later identified as Galih. DA attempted to follow Galih, but lost his trail.

The next day, DA and EP were monitoring another Circle K on Jl. Teuku Umar Barat. There they spotted Galih, again apparently dealing drugs to a foreigner. DA and EP approached Galih, who was in a car with two others, identified as Manik and Swan. They asked Galih what he had given to the foreigner, and he admitted it was marijuana.

The two officers searched the car, finding two marijuana joints in a mobile phone case; the three suspects were taken to the Bali Police headquarters.

However, as the car entered the station, Manik revealed that she had a hundred such joints at home. The five all then headed to Manik’s house, and the two officers retrieved the stash of marijuana, before returning to the station.

Manik then began to bargain with the officers, who initially demanded Rp 70 million, before Manik negotiated them down to Rp 40 million. She withdrew Rp 5.8 million from an ATM as a down payment, and the officers set the three suspects free.

Nine days later, on July 2, DA called Manik to ask for the rest of the money. They agreed to meet in a fast food restaurant in Jimbaran.

When DA entered the restaurant, he spotted Manik near the front; however, he also noticed officers from the internal affairs division, and promptly left on his motorbike.

Internal affairs officers tracked DA based on his motorbike’s police plate, and he and EP were arrested.

Internal affairs chief Sr. Comr. Beny Arjanto said that the sting had been arranged based on information provided by a certain party, but refused to name the party for safety reasons.

“We had information from the community that a police officer was engaged in extortion. Based on that information, we investigated, and the reports proved true,” Beny said.