Australians attacked in Bali’s popular holiday spots of Seminyak and Canggu
Australians in Bali have become victims of crime as muggings, bag and phone snatchings and home invasions in trendy Canggu and Seminyak are on the rise.
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Muggings, bag and phone snatchings and home invasions are so common in Bali’s trendy Canggu and Seminyak that social media pages are clogged with complaints and safety tips from victims.
More than 80 per cent of tourism and hospitality-related workers have lost jobs and Indonesia has no social welfare net for those who are desperate.
Between January and June this year 387 people have been arrested in drug-related crimes, an increase of more than five per cent compared to the same time in 2019.
Queenslander Tess Carlson recently returned to the Gold Coast with her daughter Abigail after her bag was snatched from her lap while she was on the back of a motor bike in Seminyak.
“I think the thief saw me give some money to a Balinese friend that I had bumped into and who told me he had just earned $3 for a 15-hour shift as a motorbike taxi. Times are very hard in Bali,” Ms Carlson said.
A motor bike approached her left side while she was moving in traffic and a man on a bike yanked her clutch bag that was between her and her boyfriend who was in control of the bike.
“Our bike was knocked over and my boyfriend went one way and I went the other. It happened in a split second,” Ms Carlson said.
The thief got away with cash and an iPhone.
“Everything in replaceable. I feel sad for the person who has come to that.
“At least I was not attacked like that poor Russian woman who was recently pushed over violently and her phone was pulled out of her hands in broad daylight. That must have been terrifying,” said Ms Carlson who is already planning her return to the Island of the Gods.
Jasmine Watkins from Sydney had popped out of her villa one evening for an early dinner only to find she had been robbed when she returned.
“My housemate had left out her laptop, which was taken along with a small amount of cash,” Ms Watkin said.
“My villa has no external walls so once a thief is over the boundary wall they can take anything. I lock everything that is portable and valuable into my bedroom. I’ve been here for nearly ten years and I’ve never had a problem until now. This makes me feel very uneasy in my own home though I’m not surprised it’s happening. People are destitute and have no food.”
Perth woman Skye Jones also fell victim to a motor bike riding thief who grabbed her phone out of her hands as she made a kerb side call in Canggu.
“I was just calling a taxi after an early dinner and two men literally appeared out of nowhere, snatched my phone out of my hands and took off quickly. It happened so fast I didn’t have time to react. I’m just glad I didn’t get hurt or pulled off a bike like so many other people who end up in hospital badly hurt,” she said.
Reece Max Dunbier, 19 from Sydney’s Campbelltown, was having a night out at Kuta’s famous Bounty Bay when his iPhone XI Pro Max was stolen.
The nearby Seminyak snatcher’s hot spot of Sunset Road was where Steavi-Lei Adele Mann, 26 of Brisbane, was standing when two men on a motorbike swooped and stole her mobile phone.
Australian Felicity Shines recently posted on a Bali community page about her own experience.
“A word caution: at 7.30pm tonight I stopped on Padang Linjong (Canggu) near the new shortcut to Pereranan to answer my phone. Two guys on a bike tried to rob me. I am safe no harm done. But Ladies please put your bags, even if they are small, under your seats when riding,” she warned.
Of the hundreds of comments attached to the post more than a few were from other people who have suffered similar attacks.
One local, Sophani Sin, who runs a Canggu social media page, has been so horrified by the increase in crime that he created a map that identifies the most dangerous areas for sexual
assault and robbery in Canggu’s beachside area of Berawa – a hugely popular area for Australians to live.
AUSTRALIANS BUSTED FOR PARTY DRUGS
Another Aussie has been detained in Bali on narcotics crimes.
Davy Shane Cristian, 46 of the Perth suburb of Subiaco, has been apprehended by Indonesian police who allege they seized a small amount of drugs in his villa north of the trendy Canggu area.
Police believe the man was in possession of 0.19 grams of marijuana, a small plastic baggie containing 0.42 grams of a purple powder - a substance believed to be ecstasy and a bong.
If found guilty under Indonesia’s harsh drugs laws, Cristian could face a maximum sentence of 12 years in prison.
The raid took place in Cristian’s villa in the lush and exclusive Papuan district in Tabanan, which is in the northern hills of west Bali.
“Police found a plastic clip containing purple powder suspected as being ecstasy and in a wardrobe police found a paper rolled with leaves and seed that is suspected of containing marijuana. There was also equipment that can be used as a bong for inhaling smoke from marijuana and to inhale meth,” said Deputy of Narcotic directorate Puti Yuni Setiawan.
“Yes, he is Australian but his status is not as a suspect yet because we are still waiting for the result of his urine test,” Mr Setiawan said.
The bust comes just days after another Western Australian man, Aaron Wayne Coyle, was arrested for allegedly being a drugs courier for just $20.
He too faces a maximum sentence of 12 years for allegedly possessing 1.2 grams of methamphetamine if found guilty.
Police said that Coyle, 46 of Dunsborough, was acting as a drug courier in the Seminyak area for Brit Callum Park, who was also arrested and accused of possession of 11 grams of meth and 15 ecstasy pills.
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