Australian hotel owner arrested with marijuana in Lombok

The latest chapter in the mini-series ‘Aussies in a Paradise Jail’, stars 43 year old Barbara Kathleen Higgs, from Pinjarra, Western Australia. She was arrested on Sunday at her Senggigi beach hotel Bulan Baru, in Lombok, with 50g of ‘wacky-backy’ and some seeds. Probably dobbed in by the person who sold it to her.

Her crime of possession carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in the ‘grey bar motel’ and a A$73,000 fine. People have this idea that the Gili Islands and Lombok are super mellow (which they are) and that means drug use is okay. You can understand how this lady probably got lulled into thinking it was no big deal, just sit out on the back porch and smoke a doobie, no one’s watching, life is good.

Visitors to Bali will not see her in Kerobokan jail or the Denpasar District Court. She is staying in the women’s prison in Mataram, close to the airport. Doing 10 years in Kerobokan would be bad enough, you could get local friends to bring you an assortment of food from good restaurants. Mataram is a different story. Her best bet is to sell her hotel and find a ‘Solution’ ASAP.

Looking back on the whole Aussies-drugs-prison saga, it couldn’t of been written any better in a Hollywood screenplay. All aspects were covered and everything taken care of. First up was delicate Schapelle Corby (emotion), then we had the Bali Nine starring Andrew Chan (evil ) Myuran Sukumaran (danger), Renae (?), Czugaj and Rush (innocents abroad) and the rest of the crew (skid row ). The assembled cast was briefly joined by lovely Michelle Leslie (glamor) and to this group comes Barbara Higgs (everyman).