Brit faces death by firing squad after being caught with cocaine on holiday island | World | News
A second British tourist faces a possible death penalty as he stands trial on drug smuggling charges. Piran Ezra Wilkinson, 48, of Chichester, West Sussex, is accused of smuggling 1.3 kilograms of cocaine with a street value of £300,000 to Bali, Indonesia.
The island is very popular with foreign visitors, attracting a record 16.4 million tourists last year. The property manager is charged with two counts of possession of Class A drugs and one count of being involved in the sale of drugs. If convicted, the 48-year-old could face a firing squad alongside fellow Brit Kial Robinson.
Robinson, 29, of Littlehampton, West Sussex, appeared in a Bali court last week on three similar cocaine trafficking charges.
The court heard Wilkinson was arrested by police during an operation at a luxury villa near Canggu on September 4.
“He was arrested at 2.30am after receiving two plastic packages containing cocaine with a total weight of 1,343.67 grams gross or 1,321 grams net,” Indonesian prosecutor Made Dipa Umbara said.
The suspect was escorted out of the villa by Robinson, who knocked on his door to deliver the drugs as previously agreed. Wilkinson was unaware that Robinson had been detained at Bali airport the night before.
Customs officials took action after it was noticed that Samsonite was carrying 1.32 kg of cocaine in his backpack.
Robinson flew from Barcelona to Bali via Istanbul and told police that Wilkinson had planned the operation with another man named Santos.
He claimed he was offered £2,280 in cryptocurrency to cover travel expenses to Indonesia and was promised a further £3,600 once the work was completed.
Indonesia is fast becoming a hotspot for the cocaine trade, as street prices for the drug are higher than in London and Amsterdam.
Just 250 grams of cocaine could reportedly net a dealer in Bali around £50,000, rather than £6,000 in those two western cities.
Indonesia’s National Narcotics Agency (BNN) recently admitted that Bali is a serious target for international drug trafficking.
