JAKARTA, April 8 — Indonesia has deported a Briton arrested on the resort island of Bali last month for alleged transnational drug trafficking and money laundering in Spain, immigration officials said Wednesday.
The 45-year-old, identified only by his initials “SL,” was arrested at Bali’s Ngurah Rai International Airport last month upon arrival from Singapore, after officers noticed he was on Interpol’s wanted list.
He was flown to Jakarta on Tuesday, and then on to Europe, Bali immigration office said in a statement, referring to the man as a “mafia boss”.
“We will not allow Indonesian territory, especially Bali, to become a hideout or operational base for international criminals,” the airport’s immigration head, Bugie Kurniawan, added.
British media identified SL as Scottish crime boss Steven Lyons.
Bali police chief Daniel Adityajaya said Lyons was wanted in Spain as the alleged “leader of a large-scale transnational criminal organisation” engaged in drug trafficking and money laundering.
Untung Widyatmoko, secretary of Interpol’s Indonesia bureau, said last month Lyons’ criminal group operated in countries including Spain, Scotland, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Bahrain, and Turkey.
Police were searching for two associates who had arrived in Bali with Lyons but managed to evade detection. — AFP
