NusaBali and the State News Agency ANTARA report that a Colombian national, Sebastian Arboleda Montoya (30), has been sentenced to 11 years in prison by a Bali court for smuggling 3.4 kilograms of cocaine into Indonesia via Bali’s Ngurah Rai International Airport in February of 2026.
Montoya learned his sentence before a panel of judges in the Denpasar District Court on Thursday, 23 July 2026. The 11 years meted out by Chief Judge Tenny Erma Suryathi were five years less than the 16 years behind bars sought by State Prosecutors. In handing down the lighter prison sentence, the judge took into account as mitigation the facts that Montoya was polite and cooperative during the trial, his statement of contrition, and a diagnosis that shows the Colombian had a bipolar disorder.
The Court also imposed a Rp.1 billion fine that, if left unpaid, will result in an additional period of imprisonment,
Both Montoya and the State Prosecutors now have a set period in which to consider appealing the Court’s sentence.
Sebastian Montoya’s Indonesian travail began when he departed Medellin, Colombia, on Qatar Airways with a transit in Doha, Qatar before landing in Bali on 10 February 2026 at 11:15 pm local time.
During the immigration and customs clearance process in the early hours of 12 February, Customs and Excise Officers discovered three packages of cocaine weighing an aggregate of 3.4 kilograms,
During interrogation, Montoya told how he was promised a payment of 5,000 Euros to deliver the cocaine to an unnamed individual who would contact him after landing via WhatsApp.
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