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Why would an Australian man caught smuggling heroin hidden up his butt in Bali ESCAPE the death penalty despite the island’s notoriously draconian drug laws?
- Australian Jeffrey Welton avoids death penalty in Indonesia
- Welton caught smuggling narcotics across the country in his anus
- The judge rules that he is an addict, which means that he will receive rehab
An Australian who smuggled drugs hidden in his anus into Indonesia narrowly avoided the death penalty with a judge ruling he was an addict rather than a drug dealer.
Jeffrey Welton, 52, will now spend eight months in a rehab center trying to kick his drug addiction.
Welton, a surfing and diving instructor from Western Australia, was arrested at Bali’s international airport on September 6 after he was found smuggling 8 grams of heroin and 0.34 grams of methamphetamine on a flight from Vietnam.
Under Indonesia’s harsh drug import laws, these small amounts could have landed him in jail for life or face a firing squad.
Australian Jeff Welton escaped death row after being caught smuggling drugs to Indonesia
But in this case, the lenient judge ruled on Tuesday that he will be sent to Anargya Sober House, where he will receive professional help.
At the time of his arrest, Welton’s lawyer said that he had been addicted to heroin for 15 years.
Welton’s family had hired former police officer John McLeod, who specializes in helping Australians with criminal problems abroad.
He expressed joy and relief at the result.
“He was facing the death penalty,” McLeod told the Sydney Morning Herald.
He feels relieved. He understands that he has a long way to go in rehabbing him and that he will always be an addict.
A court ruled that Welton, 52, is an addict, meaning he will be rehabilitated rather than punished.
“The rehabilitation that we have pursued for him has been extremely successful. It has been regularly tested and is free of [illegal] substances for the first time in 15 years.’
In September, Denpasar chief prosecutor Rudy Hartono said the amount of heroin smuggled by Welton indicated “it was for more than personal use.”
However, McLeod said the defense had been able to convince the prosecution that Welton, who holds Australian and British passports, was an addict.
Welton has been living in Bali for about a decade, but was a regular traveler to Vietnam.
While in Australia he lives in Perth.
Welton, who holds an Australian and British passport, will spend eight months at Bali’s Anargya Sober House for rehabilitation.
In 2015, Australians Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran were executed in Indonesia as convicted ringleaders of the so-called Bali Nine drug dealers.
The nine Australians were arrested when they tried to smuggle 8.3kg of heroin into Australia on a flight from Bali airport in 2005.
Of the remaining seven, only one, Renae Lawrence, has been released from jail, while another Tan Duc Thanh Nguyen died in prison of cancer.