Queensland man living in Bali arrested for cocaine possession after police raid

A QUEENSLANDER based in Bali faces up to 20 years in jail in Indonesia after being arrested for allegedly selling cocaine on the resort island.

AN Australian man faces up to 20 years in prison in Indonesia after being arrested for allegedly possessing cocaine on the resort island of Bali. The chief of Denpasar district police, Hadi Purnomo, said on Thursday that the 43-year-old man was arrested with his Indonesian girlfriend at a rented room last Saturday in the tourist hotspot of Kuta.

The man was identified by Indonesian news site Kumparan as Brandon Johnson but the ABC has reported the man is understood to be Brendon Luke Johnsson, 43, who originally lived on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast.

Purnomo said police found 11.6 grams of cocaine packed into 13 plastic bags. Purnomo told reporters that the man had been living in Bali for four years and was a designer or architect.

Police officers escort an Australian man identified only as Brandon at a local police headquarters in Denpasar, Bali, Indonesia Thursday, Aug. 9, 2018. The man faces up to 20 years in prison in Indonesia after being arrested for allegedly possessing cocaine on the resort island of Bali. (AP Photo/Nyoman Hendra)

He faces between five and 20 years in prison if found guilty.

He was filmed and photographed by local media being escorted by police and wearing a bright orange detainee uniform and a balaclava.

A Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade spokesperson said the department was “providing consular assistance to an Australian man detained in Bali”.

Indonesian police escort Brendon Luke Johnsson (C) of Australia as he is paraded to the media following his arrest in Denpasar on Indonesia's resort island of Bali. Picture: GEDE ARDIASA / AFP