- Australian Troy Smith allegedly arrested with methamphetamine
- Lawyers will claim that he is an addict and should be rehabilitated
- Will do the ‘walk of shame’
A South Australian dad facing 12 years in jail in Bali after he was allegedly busted with methamphetamine says he was given the drugs for helping a mate buy a car.
Troy Smith was on vacation in Bali with his new wife, Tracy Ijusa, on April 30 when Indonesian police raided his room at the Champlung Mas hotel in Legian, in the south of the island.
They allegedly found 3.14g of methamphetamine hidden in a tube of Colgate toothpaste that was sent to Smith from Cairns and was labeled as containing private documents, photographs and lubricant.
Police allegedly found another 0.4g bought in Bali, along with a hookah and a lighter.
Smith’s lawyers told local media that their client had been a drug addict for four years and should be sent to rehabilitation instead of jail with a fine of 756,000 Australian dollars, equivalent to about eight billion Indonesian rupees.
Australian father Troy Smith (pictured with his wife, Tracy) has been charged with drug possession in Bali.
Indonesian police allege they found methamphetamine in Troy Smith’s four-star hotel room in Bali (pictured with his wife, right)
He is also expected to chair a police news conference in Denpasar on Monday and claim that most of the methamphetamine was sent to him and that he therefore allegedly did not import drugs into the country himself.
Smith will then be subjected to the ‘walk of shame,’ an unusual form of justice in which a defendant is paraded around town with a sign hanging from his neck, declaring that his alleged actions were wrong.
His lawyer, Ida Bagus Gumilang Galih Sakti, told the media that the package of methamphetamine was a “gift” from a friend, but had only made her client “suffer.”
“I found out from Troy… that it was a gift, because the sender knew I was a user,” Mr. Sakti said.
He said the package was related to the sale of a car, but his client did not know the drugs would be sent to him.
He has been in a prison cell in Bali since his arrest two weeks ago and could remain there for months before the matter is heard in court.
Sakti said Smith was “very depressed and remorseful” about the situation.
“When the police catch people in another country, they get in a bad mood… and he is quite depressed at the moment,” Mr Sakti said.
Smith was originally from Port Lincoln, but appears to have moved to Cairns in the last two years.
He proposed to Ijusa in October last year and they married in January.
Troy Smith will be forced to take the ‘walk of shame’. Pictured: Australians performing the walk of shame on the Indonesian island of Gili Trawangan in 2016, following accusations of bicycle theft.
She was also arrested on April 30, but released without charge, although she remained in Bali to support her husband.
It is understood Smith’s relatives flew to Bali last week.
“There are family members there who support him in any way they can,” a source told the Adelaide Advertiser.
‘They don’t know what’s happening. They are simply shocked.
They described the allegations as “out of line” and said Smith was “just a pretty normal type of person” who normally (supposedly) wouldn’t do something stupid like that.”
Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs is providing consular assistance to Smith.
The Australian government website Smart Traveler warns of the strict penalties that drug use can carry in Indonesia.
‘Penalties for drug crimes include heavy fines, long prison sentences and the death penalty. “Police attack tourist destinations,” the website states.
“You can face heavy fines or jail time for possessing even small amounts of drugs, including marijuana.”
Troy Smith married Tracy Ijusa in Kenya in December. He proposed to her in October.