death penalty, and it wasn’t long before the prosecutors requested the same fate for more drug traffickers in Bali. A 29-year-old Mexican scuba diving instructor named Vincente Garcia flew into Bali several months after Michael’s conviction. He passed through immigration, then walked to the luggage carousel to pick up his boogie board bag and another black bag. He showed no sign of fear, despite the fact that his bag was carrying fifteen kilograms of cocaine. Vincente was travelling with a Mexican former model, Clara Gautrin, 32, who was acting as his girlfriend to help create the impression they were holidaying lovers. They made a sexy couple as they confidently walked through the airport, seemingly without a care in the world. They appeared like all the other couples starting a romantic holiday in paradise. Neither knew they had been set up and were walking straight into a trap.
Vincente had tangled with his former Mexican drug boss by cutting him out of the loop. On previous drug runs, Vincente had been a well-paid mule, but he was ambitious and wanted a bigger cut – after all, he was the one taking all the risks and few drug traffickers were brazen enough to carry fifteen kilograms in one trip. It didn’t take long for one of Bali’s biggest drug bosses, a Chinese man, to snap up Vincente’s services. But it also took little time for his former drug boss in Mexico to find out and exact revenge. He had one of his men follow Vincente to find out his flight details to Bali. Like most smart drug traffickers, Vincente always ensured no one knew his itinerary, only ever giving clients a ballpark arrival date. But his ex-boss’s man was able to find out the details, and passed them onto the Mexican drug lord, who then faxed them through to the Bali police. The moment Vincente checked in his bags, the authorities in Bali were closing in, waiting to pounce as soon as his plane landed at Ngurah Rai Airport.
The suspects, Vincente Manuel Navarro Garcia and Clara Elena Umana Gautrin, were arrested at the airport on Tuesday on the tourist island of Bali following a flight from the Thai capital, Bangkok. Police said they found the drugs hidden in the couple’s suitcases. Indonesian police said the drugs found on the Mexicans had a street value of $470,000 in Bali .
– EFE News Service , 12 April 2001
Vincente and Clara did a deal with the prosecutors and judges that he would be sentenced to fifteen years instead of death and that she would walk free. But the judges reneged on the deal and sentenced Clara to seven years and Vincente to life. Sparing Vincente the firing squad was the best the judges could do without causing suspicion. It would have been awkward to explain why, in the same Bali courtroom, Vincente got fifteen years for fifteen kilograms of cocaine, when Michael got life for less than four kilograms of hashish. Yet, it was clear to anyone watching closely that a deal had been done. Vincente received the same sentence as Michael, despite being charged with trafficking more than four times the amount of drugs.
Another trafficker checking into Hotel K under the shadow of death was 24-year-old Italian jeweller Juri Angione. He was caught at Ngurah Rai Airport with five kilograms of cocaine in his surfboard bag. Juri had been living in Bali on and off for two years when he told his girlfriend he was going to Thailand for a few days’ break. Instead, he flew to Brazil and picked up a surfboard bag pre-packed with five kilograms of cocaine. He zigzagged his way back to Bali, trying to avoid scrutinised routes. He stayed away from Jakarta Airport, as a Brazilian courier, Marco, had been busted there several months earlier with thirteen kilograms of cocaine in a hang-glider frame. Juri was now working for the same wealthy Italian drug boss who had employed Marco. The boss was a man who lived in Bali, indulging in the good life – watching sunsets and sipping cocktails at the most exclusive beach bars and
Vincente had tangled with his former Mexican drug boss by cutting him out of the loop. On previous drug runs, Vincente had been a well-paid mule, but he was ambitious and wanted a bigger cut – after all, he was the one taking all the risks and few drug traffickers were brazen enough to carry fifteen kilograms in one trip. It didn’t take long for one of Bali’s biggest drug bosses, a Chinese man, to snap up Vincente’s services. But it also took little time for his former drug boss in Mexico to find out and exact revenge. He had one of his men follow Vincente to find out his flight details to Bali. Like most smart drug traffickers, Vincente always ensured no one knew his itinerary, only ever giving clients a ballpark arrival date. But his ex-boss’s man was able to find out the details, and passed them onto the Mexican drug lord, who then faxed them through to the Bali police. The moment Vincente checked in his bags, the authorities in Bali were closing in, waiting to pounce as soon as his plane landed at Ngurah Rai Airport.
The suspects, Vincente Manuel Navarro Garcia and Clara Elena Umana Gautrin, were arrested at the airport on Tuesday on the tourist island of Bali following a flight from the Thai capital, Bangkok. Police said they found the drugs hidden in the couple’s suitcases. Indonesian police said the drugs found on the Mexicans had a street value of $470,000 in Bali .
– EFE News Service , 12 April 2001
Vincente and Clara did a deal with the prosecutors and judges that he would be sentenced to fifteen years instead of death and that she would walk free. But the judges reneged on the deal and sentenced Clara to seven years and Vincente to life. Sparing Vincente the firing squad was the best the judges could do without causing suspicion. It would have been awkward to explain why, in the same Bali courtroom, Vincente got fifteen years for fifteen kilograms of cocaine, when Michael got life for less than four kilograms of hashish. Yet, it was clear to anyone watching closely that a deal had been done. Vincente received the same sentence as Michael, despite being charged with trafficking more than four times the amount of drugs.
Another trafficker checking into Hotel K under the shadow of death was 24-year-old Italian jeweller Juri Angione. He was caught at Ngurah Rai Airport with five kilograms of cocaine in his surfboard bag. Juri had been living in Bali on and off for two years when he told his girlfriend he was going to Thailand for a few days’ break. Instead, he flew to Brazil and picked up a surfboard bag pre-packed with five kilograms of cocaine. He zigzagged his way back to Bali, trying to avoid scrutinised routes. He stayed away from Jakarta Airport, as a Brazilian courier, Marco, had been busted there several months earlier with thirteen kilograms of cocaine in a hang-glider frame. Juri was now working for the same wealthy Italian drug boss who had employed Marco. The boss was a man who lived in Bali, indulging in the good life – watching sunsets and sipping cocktails at the most exclusive beach bars and
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