Melbourne nightclub pair accused of cocaine possession face Bali court over drug charges
Two Melbourne nightclub promoters facing lengthy jail terms in Bali have faced court over alleged cocaine possession.
National
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Carrying plastic bags filled with their belongings from life in Bali’s Kerobokan jail, two Melbourne nightclub promoters have arrived at Bali’s central courthouse to face trial over alleged cocaine possession.
Melbourne men William Cabantog, 35, and David Van Iersel, 38, remained tight-lipped as they were herded out of a black police van and into the burning tropical sun and taken to the cells.
The pair was arrested in July after a police raid on the swanky Canggu nightclub, Lost City.
The men face a maximum penalty of 12 years in prison for the alleged possession of 1.2 grams of cocaine and a set of scales.
Both men both tested positive to narcotics following urine and blood test. Van Iersel claims he is a drug addict.
The men face a maximum penalty of 12 years in prison but more lenient sentences if they
are proved to be users and not drug dealers.
Cabantog and Van Iersel are being tried together but on separate indictments.
“He (Van Iersel) is an addict. Addiction – the body need drugs to boost energy or something like that. It’s not for recreation. He (has) used cocaine for a long time,” said lawyer Yoga Cahyadi.
The lawyer said Van Iersel is already undergoing rehabilitation while he has been detained.
Van Iersel and Cabantog have opted to have different lawyers.
Both men are believed to have told police that they bought the cocaine from a man known only as ‘N’ and who remains on a police search list.
It is understood that ‘N’ fled from Bali to Singapore as soon as the raid on the nightclub was made public.
Prosecutor Ni Made Ayu Citra Maya Sari told the court that Van Iersel and William Cabantog had illegally possessed 1.12 grams of cocaine.
“Officers searched the body and clothes of the defendant (Van Iersel), but no narcotics were found,” she said.
The court heard that William Cabantog handed over a plastic bag containing the cocaine after police searched Van Iersel’s body and clothes and found no narcotics.
She said officers then searched a motorbike hired by Cabantog where they found an electric scale and two plastic (bags) in his “purse”.
The court heard that the two men allegedly put the cocaine on a glass table and took turns to use “paper money to siphon cocaine”.
“After using cocaine the defendants became more happy and calm,” she said.
Cabantog and Van Iersel are being tried together but on separate indictments.
The trial continues on November 27.