Lindsay June Sandiford, 55, was arrested after she arrived on a flight from Bangkok with the haul in her suitcase.
Indonesia has some of the toughest anti-drugs laws in the world, including the death penalty for traffickers. However, in recent years the death penalty has been applied less frequently for drug smuggling.
However, more than 140 people are currently on death row in the country – a third of them foreigners.
Made Wijaya, head of the Customs office in Bali, said officials spotted the cocaine in Sandiford’s case when it went through an X-ray machine as part of a routine check.
Sandiford, from Redcar, reportedly told officials that she was a housewife.
Wijaya said: “After weighing, the total cocaine is 4.791kg. This is a big international network. The charge against them would carry the death penalty.”
It is believed that three Britons and an Indian national were the intended recipients. They are being questioned.
Image: Getty
