AUSSIE STUDENT FACES DEATH PENALTY

AN AUSTRALIAN student faces the death penalty after being arrested in
Bali carrying 4.2kg of marijuana allegedly hidden in a bodyboard bag.

Schapelle Leigh Corby, 27, from Tugun on the Gold Coast, was arrested
on Friday afternoon at Bali's airport in Denpasar after an X-ray scan
by customs officers showed an unusual package in her bodyboard bag.

When officers opened the bag, they found 4.2kg of marijuana leaf in a
large plastic bag with dried flowers on top in a poor attempt to
disguise the package.

Drug-detector dogs were brought in and it is understood drug tests
proved positive for an illegal drug.

Corby, who was travelling with several others, believed to be her
siblings, was arrested on Friday afternoon after she had arrived on an
Australian Airlines flight from Brisbane to Denpasar via Sydney.

Corby is now the only woman being held in the jail at the Polda police
headquarters in Denpasar, Bali's capital city.

The group had planned a two-week stay in Bali and had return tickets
to Australia booked for October 22.

For the first eight days, the group had reservations at a hotel resort
in Kuta.

Under Indonesia's tough anti-drug laws, Corby could face the death
penalty or life imprisonment if convicted.

A more lenient sentence for Corby would be 20 years in jail and a fine
of one billion rupia ($A150,000).

A Brisbane man was arrested last month after allegedly trying to
export tens of thousands of methamphetamine tablets into Australia,
and is also in jail in Bali.

Corby's travelling companions, along with their locally hired lawyer,
visited her in the jail yesterday and police sources said the young
woman was in tears after they left.

The Sunday Telegraph understands that Corby has so far refused to
speak to police about the allegations.

It is understood the bodyboard bag was not locked or secured and one
police source said it appeared to have been an extremely amateurish
bid to bring drugs into Bali.