Exclusive: Brit held in Bali says 'it's a fit up'

Angus Walker

Former ITV News Correspondent

Lindsay Sandiford was caught with cocaine stuffed in the lining of a suitcase as she arrived in Bali, according to customs officials. Credit: Reuters

"It's a fit up, get us a decent lawyer," Rachel, one of the four British suspects being held in a police cells in Bali shouted through the bars to me this afternoon. I asked her how she was being treated and she said "badly... badly".

Rachel and her husband were arrested after a sophisticated sting operation run by Bali's Customs and police forces working together to break up what the officers believe was an international drugs smuggling ring.

The head of Bali's Customs told me today that 55-year-old Lindsay Sandiford, from Redcar, had "told us everything" after she had been found with almost five kilos of what's believed to be cocaine on May 19.

He said she was a Customs target BEFORE she landed at Bali's international airport. His officers intercepted her suitcase before it was loaded onto the baggage carousel. They then waited for her to pick it up and take it to the inspection area where every passenger has their bags x-rayed. It was her fourth time in Bali and it seems this visit may last a long time.

After her arrest Lindsay "co-operated" and was allowed to go and meet the other members of the "gang" and hand over the drugs. She was the bait. It was then that officers raided five properties on the tropical holiday island. Four British suspects and one Indian man are now in custody.

The Customs chief says Lindsay Sandiford's help should be taken into account at her trial.

The regular questioning of all the suspects continues and it's thought it will be more than a month before they are likely to appear in court.