Bali authorities deny Instagram model’s bribery claims

Bali authorities have hit back at claims from an Australian Instagram model that she was forced to pay a $40,000 bribe after she brought prescription medication into the country.

Authorities in Bali have reacted with anger at claims by an Australian Instagram model she was targeted by Customs for carrying a class A drug into the country and had to pay a $40,000 “bribe” to be allowed to return home.

Adelaide-based social influencer Tori Ann Lyla Hunter, 25, is alleging she was stripsearched and held behind bars for four days after bringing prescription pills into the country.

Adelaide-based social influencer Tori Ann Lyla Hunter claims she was extorted for nearly $40,000 by authorities in Bali. Picture: Instagram

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“They targeted me because of my social media status,” Hunter, who boasts 119,000 followers, alleged in a series of social media posts in which she claimed she was treated “like a street dog”.

“They searched me on the internet, found out that I am a model, assumed that I’m loaded and that’s why I was personally targeted and extorted for 40k.”

Scenes recorded by Hunter that she claims was from a jail cell.

Hunter claims she was treated like a “street dog”.

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A spokesman for Indonesian Customs in Bali rejected the claims. They said she was searched on arrival like any other traveller and was found to have been carrying Diazepam and another drug Dextroamphetamine, used to treat ADHD.

She did have a prescription for the first drug but the chemist document did not match the amount she was carrying and the second drug is classed as a Class A narcotic that can only be brought into the country by a registered pharmacy under a special license.

Tori Ann Lyla Hunter uploaded an image of her passport before she was detained.

As such they said they had to involve regional police for further investigation.

“We reject her claims she has been making on social media posts,” a spokesman for Customs said.

“We did not ask for money or anything like this at all and we always conduct our business with integrity. We have read her chronology … and it was not true. Here at Customs we also do not target people because of their social media status. We just look at what people bring to ensure they comply with Indonesian regulations on importations.”

The Australian mother and model says her social media status is what she believes alerted her to authorities.

Tori Ann Lyla Hunter is trying to raise the $40,000 to recoup the money. Picture: Instagram

Hunter touched down in Bali on August 6 and was interviewed by authorities for several hours.

“These people weren’t just ‘doing their job’, people bring my medications into the country all the time,” she wrote on social media as she set up a GoFundMe page to recoup the $40,000 she said she paid in bribes.

DFAT would not confirm her official bribery claims or if the issue was raised at a diplomatic level, citing privacy obligations.

Originally published as Bali authorities deny Instagram model’s bribery claims