customs chief confirmed his office will press police and prosecutors to seek the death penalty, News reports.
Edward Myatt is yet to be formally charged, but authorities have already indicated they intend to deal with him in the harshest of ways after he was allegedly caught attempting to smuggle hashish and methamphetamines into Bali in his stomach.
The head of Customs at Bali's Ngurah Rai Airport, I Made Wijaya, said today that his office had already requested that Myatt be charged under Article 113 of Indonesia's harsh drugs laws and that a death penalty be recommended.
"Under Article 113 ... it is stated that cannabis and methamphetamines are class-1 drugs and prohibited. By importing these items, you can be charged with death penalty," Wijaya told AAP.
"This article is the primary one that should be used to charge him."
The fate of the alleged drug mule will ultimately lie in the hands of a judge.
But the 54-year-old's lawyer, Robert Khuana, has also confirmed that the death penalty is likely to be sought by authorities when the case inevitably goes to court.
"I cannot comment on the chance he will escape the death penalty," he said.
"He hasn't yet been charged."
Myatt was arrested last week after arriving in Bali on a Thai Airways flight from Delhi via Thailand.
He is accused of trying to smuggle into Bali 1.1kg of hashish and seven grams of methamphetamines, worth an estimated $70,000, contained in 72 capsules he had swallowed.
The head of the Bali drugs squad, Mulyadi, said police believe Myatt swallowed the drugs in Bangkok.
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