Shrewsbury man in Bali drug arrest could face life in prison
A man from Shrewsbury could face life in an Indonesian jail after being accused of possessing cannabis.
David Fox, 54, who was born in the county town, was arrested in Bali with an Australian man after drugs were allegedly found at a house in the seaside suburb of Sanur.
Both Mr Fox and his co-accused Giuseppe Serafino, from Australia, are currently being held in jail while police carry out investigations.
They appeared at a press conference wearing orange boiler suits and balaclavas.
Detectives produced bags of cannabis they had taken from the men.
Indonesia has notoriously strict drug laws and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office has confirmed it is providing assistance to a man following his arrest.
It is understood police found a total of just over 17 grams of hashish, the resin from cannabis, belonging to the two men on Saturday.
Mr Fox was born and brought up in Shrewsbury. He is a former war correspondent, having worked for the news agency Reuters for 20 years, covering conflicts including those in Afghanistan and Iraq as well as Africa.
A spokesman for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office said: "We are in contact with local authorities and are providing assistance to a British national who has been arrested in Bali, Indonesia."
Both Mr Fox and the other man have been named suspects for possessing category one narcotics under article 112 of Indonesian law.
Possession of more than five grams can attract a maximum penalty of life imprisonment, with a minimum penalty of five years.
The alleged evidence, including a black substance in a small ziplock plastic bag and blue boxing gloves, were presented at the police press conference in Bali. Police said Mr Fox had told them he had begun using hashish due to stress after being assigned to cover the Somalia conflict. Mr Serafino, 48, claims to use the drug to help the symptoms of cancer.
Mr Fox was arrested at a bar called On On, where he was allegedly found in possession of hashish wrapped inside aluminium foil. Police accompanied him back to his own house, also in Sanur, where they found more hashish inside a boxing glove.
Questioned as to where it had come from, the Briton said he had bought it from another man, but police are understood to have been unable to identity that person.
In January this year Australian Nicholas Langan, who was caught sharing a joint on a Bali beach, was released after spending 12 months behind bars.
A number of people have been executed in Indonesia for drug trafficking offences and British grandmother Lindsay Sandiford, 59, from Redcar on Teesside, has been on death row since December 2012 after attempting to smuggle cocaine into Bali from Bangkok.
In 2015 two Australians were executed by firing squad after being convicted of smuggling heroin.