British woman faces death penalty in Bali for drug smuggling

A British woman could face the death penalty for allegedly smuggling more than 4kg of cocaine from Bangkok, into the Indonesian island of Bali.

Lindsay Sandiford, 56, a housewife from Redcar, was arrested with drugs worth £1.6 million, Gazette Live reported. Sandiford was apprehended on May 19 at Bali's Denpasar Airport after arriving from Bangkok on a Thai Airways flight. The cocaine haul was discovered in the lining of the woman's suitcase. The Daily Mail reported customs official Made Wijaya said that Sandiford could face death by firing squad, the maximum penalty for drug smuggling. He said "If this woman, and anyone else who is subsequently charged, is found guilty, the punishment will be the death penalty." Wijaya also said "This is a big international network" as he revealed that the intended recipients of the drugs, three Britons and an Indian national, had also been arrested. According to figures cited by IRHA Indonesia's death row held 48 foreigners convicted of drug offenses at the end of 2010. However, there is no mandatory death penalty.