Sydney woman in Bali drugs arrest

Bali police say they were acting on a tip-off about drugs at a party when they arrested a New Zealand-born resident of Sydney, who remains in custody.

A Sydney woman is being detained after Bali police raided a villa just two days after convicted drug smuggler Schapelle Corby was released from jail.

New Zealand national Leeza Tracey Ormsby, 37, was arrested at a villa north of Kuta last Wednesday.

Police say they acted on a tip-off about drugs at a party when they allegedly found the Paddington resident in possession of a marijuana cigarette.

A police report says officers then searched a villa, where they seized six tablets of hashish, seven tablets of MDMA, electronic scales, duct tape and wrapping plastic.

It says the Rotorua-born woman is being investigated for "possessing, keeping ... the narcotics of hashish and MDMA".

At a media conference on Tuesday, Agus Tri Waluyo, the head of Denpasar's drug squad, said Ormsby had told police there was a party at the villa, but her friends had since left Bali.

"We made the ambush on Wednesday around 8am (1100 AEDT)," he told reporters.

"In that location, we found the evidence.

"From the statement given to investigators, she admitted that several days prior to the ambush, there was a drugs party along with her five other friends.

"But they've gone back to their country."

Police say Ormsby has not yet been charged, but it's understood she has legal representation.

A report in the Bali Post about Ormsby's arrest said it showed "the war against illicit drug trafficking in Bali, particularly in Denpasar Police jurisdiction, continues".

Her arrest came just two days after Corby was released on parole from Bali's Kerobokan jail.

The Australian was sentenced to 20 years' jail but could have been sentenced to death after being arrested in 2004 at Denpasar's airport with 4.1 kilograms of marijuana.

Corby served nine years before qualifying to serve her parole in Bali.


2 min read

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Updated

Source: AAP


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