Three foreign inmates were among the convicts transferred on Wednesday.

The spokesman for the Bali chapter of the Law and Human Rights Ministry, I Putu Surya Dharma, said the transfer was carried out in the early morning of Wednesday. Besides the 15 inmates from Kerobokan, there were also three other inmates from Bangli narcotic penitentiary in the transfer to the infamous Nusakambangan prison island.

“A total of 18 inmates were transferred to Nusakambangan, Surya said on Thursday.

Read also: 228 convicted drug dealers transferred to Nusakambangan prison island

The three foreign inmates are an American named Christian Beasley, a drug convict who is serving eight years' imprisonment and two Hong Kong residents Jo Ping Kwong and Man Chun Kwok, who are serving 20- and 18-year prison sentences respectively.

“All inmates are drug convicts that have been sentenced to more than five years' imprisonment,” Surya said.

Beasley made headlines when he escaped Kerobokan prison in 2017 as he was awaiting his sentence. He was recaptured five days after his escape in the neighboring island of Lombok in West Nusa Tenggara.

Kerobokan prison warden Yulius Sahruzah said the transfer was part of the ministry’s program to clean up prisons of drug trafficking.

“They are drug dealers and drug convicts that are serving high penalties and risking our program here,” Yulius said.

Yulius explained that those 15 inmates had committed drug offenses repeatedly. Some of them had also been caught with drugs inside the prison.

"This is part of our attempt to break the narcotic chain inside the prison,” he emphasized.

The ministry had also transferred 228 convicted drug dealers detained at penitentiaries in Jakarta, Yogyakarta and West Java to Nusakambangan in July in a move to cut drug circulation in the country.

Read also: Drug convict sent to ‘super maximum security’ prison for producing ecstasy in hospital

The ministry’s corrections director general, Reynhard Silitonga said the move was part of efforts to solve the problem of prisons operating beyond their capacity, as well as to address the discovery of drug rings controlled behind bars by imprisoned drug dealers.

First built by the Dutch colonial administration in 1908 to hold political prisoners, Nusakambangan prison island now includes seven correctional facilities with a total capacity of 1,606 inmates. The island can only be reached by a 1-kilometer ferry crossing from Wijaya Pura Port in Cilacap, Central Java, making it suitable to house high-risk prisoners. Dubbed "execution island", Nusakambangan houses infamous criminals and those on death row.