Australian man Guiseppe Serafino and a UK man held in Bali over drug possesssion

AN Australian man and his British friend have been locked up in Bali, accused of possession of 17.41 grams of hashish.

The Australian man arrested for drug possession, Guiseppe Serafino, is on the on the right with his British friend, known only as DM, on the left. Picture: Supplied

AN Australian man and his British friend have been locked up by police in Bali, accused of possession of 17.41 grams of hashish.

The two men were arrested on the weekend and are now in custody at Denpasar police station facing interrogation on drugs possession laws which carry a maximum 12-year jail term.

The Australian man was identified by police as 48-year-old Guiseppe Serafino and his companion, known only as DM, is a 54-year old British journalist born in the town of Shrewsbury in Shropshire, England. Police said both had been living in Bali for five years.

The men were both arrested on Saturday after what police say was a tip off from the community about a man at the address of the Australian, who allegedly often used drugs.

Denpasar police chief, Hadi Purnomo, said police had gone to the home of the. Australian, in Sanur, where they allegedly found Serafino and hashish weighing 7.2 grams inside a black bag.

Mr Purnomo claimed the Australian told police he got the drugs from his friend, DM, who he agreed to meet, in an apparent police sting, in the nearby ON ON Bar.

At the bar DM was arrested and hashish was allegedly seized. He was then brought to his home, also in Sanur, where more hashish was allegedly seized along with a bong. The total hashish allegedly seized at the bar and at DMs home was 10.09 grams.

Police allege that DM told them he got the drugs from someone whose identity he didn’t know.

The drug paraphernalia police allegedly found in relation to an Australian man, Guiseppe Serafino, and a British man, known as DM, who have been arrested on drugs charges on the Indonesian island of Bali. Picture: Supplied

Both men are now being held at the Denpasar police stations drug squad holding cells pending further investigations. They are yet to be fully interrogated with a translator.

They are being investigated under article 112 of Indonesia’s harsh anti-drugs laws for drug possession, which carries a maximum 12-year term.

This is the same police station where Australian woman Sara Connor and her British boyfriend David Taylor have been held since August 19 as suspects in the murder of a Bali police officer.

Prosecutors in their case are expected on Monday to make a decision on whether the brief of evidence agains the couple is completed and the case is ready for court.

The two drugs suspects are being held in holding cells in the drug squad section of the police station. Connor and Taylor are now in the general downstairs holding cells.

If prosecutors pursue charges against the pair, they will be transferred to Kerobokan jail to await trial as soon as the case is declared complete and ready.

Indonesia has harsh anti-drugs laws and the Australian man arrested on the weekend is the latest of his countrymen to find himself behind bars for a small amount of drugs. Even small amounts are not tolerated in Indonesia and can earn people months of jail time. Large amounts can see life sentences and even the death penalty imposed.