Indonesia arrests and sentences foreign nationals in separate cases of drug smuggling

DENPASAR, Indonesia (AP) — Indonesian authorities said they recently arrested a Brazilian man and a South African woman accused of smuggling cocaine, while a court sentenced two groups of foreigners to prison on drug charges.

The sentences were considered lenient as Indonesia typically hands out severe punishments for drug smuggling, including the death penalty.

A 25-year-old Brazilian man, identified by the initials YB, was arrested July 13 shortly after arriving from Dubai and charged with carrying 3,086 grams (6.8 pounds) of cocaine in his suitcase and backpack at Bali's Ngurah Rai international airport, said Made Sinar Subawa, head of the Eradication Division at Bali’s Narcotic Agency.

The same day, customs officers seized 990 grams (2.1 pounds) of cocaine they say was being carried in the underwear of a 32-year-old South African woman, identified as LN, Subawa said.

In Denpasar District Court on Thursday, judges sentenced a group of three British nationals to one year in jail for drug offenses after a charge that could carry the death penalty was dropped.

Jonathan Christopher Collyer, 28, and his partner Lisa Ellen Stocker, 29, were arrested Feb. 1 after customs officers found 993 grams (2.2 pounds) of cocaine worth an estimated 6 billion rupiah ($368,000). The drugs were hidden among sachets of powdered dessert mix.

Two days later, authorities arrested Phineas Ambrose Float, 31, after a delivery of the drugs arranged by police.

During their June trial, defense lawyers argued their clients were unaware the food given to them in England contained cocaine. The three-judge panel handed down one-year prison terms for each defendant minus time served, making them eligible for release in seven months.

Separately, an Argentine woman was sentenced to seven years and a British man received a five-year sentence with a fine of 1 billion rupiah ($61,380) on charges of smuggling cocaine to Bali.

Eleonora Gracia, 46, was arrested in March at Bali’s airport with 244 grams (0.5 pounds) of cocaine. Authorities alleged she handed over the cocaine to Elliot James Shaw, 50, during a police sting operation at a Bali hotel.

About 530 people are on death row in Indonesia, mostly for drug-related crimes, including 96 foreigners, according to Ministry of Immigration and Corrections data. Indonesia’s last executions of a citizen and three foreigners were carried out in July 2016. The country has upheld a moratorium on execution since 2017.

President Prabowo Subianto has moved to repatriate several high-profile foreign inmates, all sentenced to death or life in prison for drug offenses, back to their home countries since he took office in October.

A British woman, Lindsay Sandiford, now 69, has been on death row in Indonesia for more than a decade. She was arrested in 2012 with 3.8 kilograms (8.4 pounds) of cocaine in her luggage.

Serge Atlaoui, an ailing Frenchman, returned to France in February after Jakarta and Paris agreed to repatriate him on “humanitarian grounds.”

Indonesia took Mary Jane Veloso off death row and returned her to the Philippines in December. In the same month, the government sent to Australia the five remaining members of a drug ring known as the “Bali Nine.”

Karmini reported from Jakarta, Indonesia.

An Indonesian Narcotics Agency officer escorts a Brazilian national identified as YB, center, and South African national identified as LN, right, who were arrested on accusation of smuggling cocaine into the resort island of Bali, during a press conference in Denpasar, Indonesia, Thursday, July 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Firdia Lisnawati)

British national, Elliot James Shaw, right, and Argentine national Eleonora Gracia, who are accused of smuggling cocaine into Indonesia, walk to a holding cell after they are sentenced for drug offenses at the district court in Denpasar, Bali, Indonesia on Thursday, July 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Firdia Lisnawati)

British national, Elliot James Shaw, right, and Argentine national Eleonora Gracia, who are accused of smuggling cocaine into Indonesia, sit on the defendant's chair before being sentenced for drug offenses at the district court in Denpasar, Bali, Indonesia on Thursday, July 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Firdia Lisnawati)

An Indonesian Narcotics Agency officer escorts a Brazilian national identified as YB, center, and South African national identified as LN, right, who were arrested on accusation of smuggling cocaine into the resort island of Bali, during a press conference in Denpasar, Indonesia, Thursday, July 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Firdia Lisnawati)

British nationals, Phineas Float, fourth right, Jonathan Collyer, second right and Lisa Stocker, right who are accused of smuggling nearly a kilogram (over two pounds) of cocaine into Indonesia sit on the defendant's chair before being sentenced for drug offenses at the district court in Denpasar, Bali, Indonesia on Thursday, July 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Firdia Lisnawati)

British nationals, from right, Phineas Float, Lisa Stocker and Jonathan Collyer, who are accused of smuggling nearly a kilogram (over two pounds) of cocaine into Indonesia are escorted by a security officer before their verdict at the district court in Denpasar, Bali, Indonesia on Thursday, July 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Firdia Lisnawati)

British national, Elliot James Shaw, right, and Argentine national Eleonora Gracia, who are accused of smuggling cocaine into Indonesia, walk to a holding cell after they are sentenced for drug offenses at the district court in Denpasar, Bali, Indonesia on Thursday, July 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Firdia Lisnawati)

British national, Elliot James Shaw, right, and Argentine national Eleonora Gracia, who are accused of smuggling cocaine into Indonesia, sit on the defendant's chair before being sentenced for drug offenses at the district court in Denpasar, Bali, Indonesia on Thursday, July 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Firdia Lisnawati)

An Indonesian Narcotics Agency officer escorts a Brazilian national identified as YB, center, and South African national identified as LN, right, who were arrested on accusation of smuggling cocaine into the resort island of Bali, during a press conference in Denpasar, Indonesia, Thursday, July 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Firdia Lisnawati)

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Police in Ohio's capital city said Wednesday that they have gathered enough evidence to link a man charged in the double homicide of his ex-wife and her husband in their Columbus home last month to the killings.

Columbus Police Chief Elaine Bryant said in an Associated Press interview that authorities now believe Michael David McKee, 39, a vascular surgeon who was living in Chicago, was the person seen walking down a dark alley near Monique and Spencer Tepe's home in video footage from the night of the murders. His vehicle has also been identified traveling near the house, and a firearm found in his Illinois residence also traced to evidence at the scene, she said.

An attorney representing McKee could not be identified through court listings.

His arrest Saturday capped off nearly two weeks of speculation surrounding the mysterious killings that attracted national attention. No obvious signs of forced entry were found at the Tepes’ home. Police also said no weapon was found there, and murder-suicide was not suspected. Further, nothing was stolen, and the couple’s two young children and their dog were left unharmed in the home.

“What we can tell you is that we have evidence linking the vehicle that he was driving to the crime scene. We also have evidence of him coming and going in that particular vehicle,” Bryant told the AP. “What I can also share with you is that there were multiple firearms taken from the property of McKee, and one of those firearms did match preliminarily from a NIBIN (ballistic) hit back to this actual homicide.”

Bryant said that the department wants the public to keep the tips coming. Investigators were able to follow up on every phone call, email and private tip shared from the community to the department and some of that information allowed them to gather enough evidence to make an arrest, she said.

That work culminated in the apprehension of McKee in Rockford, Illinois, where the hospital where he worked — OSF Saint Anthony Medical Center — has said it is cooperating with the investigation. He has been charged with premeditated aggravated murder in the shooting deaths. Monique Tepe, who divorced McKee in 2017, was 39. Her husband, a dentist whose absence from work that morning prompted the first call to police, was 37.

McKee waived his right to an extradition hearing on Monday during an appearance in the 17th Judicial Circuit Court in Winnebago County, Illinois, where he remains in jail. Bryant said officials are working out details of his return to Ohio, with no exact arrival date set. His next hearing in Winnebago County is scheduled for Jan. 23.

Columbus Mayor Andrew Ginther said Wednesday that the city doesn't prioritize high-profile cases any more than others, noting that the city's closure rate on criminal cases exceeds the national average. The city also celebrated in 2025 its lowest level of homicides and violent crime since 2007, Ginther said.

“Every case matters. Ones that receive national attention, and those that don’t,” he told the AP. “Every family deserves closure and for folks to be held accountable, and the rest of the community deserves to be safe when dangerous people are taken off the street.”

Ginther said it is vital for central Ohioans to continue to grieve with the Tepes' family, which includes two young children, and loved ones, as they cope with “such an unimaginable loss.”

“I want our community to wrap our arms around this family and these children for years to come,” he said.

This undated booking photo provided by the Winnebago County Sheriff's Office Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2026, shows Michael David McKee, who was charged in the killing of his ex-wife, Monique Tepe, and her husband Spencer Tepe at their Columbus, Ohio, home on Dec. 30, 2025. (Winnebago County Sheriff's Office via AP)

Spencer and Monique Tepe's home in Columbus, Ohio, on Tuesday, Jan. 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Patrick Aftoora-Orsagos)

This image taken from video shows Michael David McKee walking into the courtroom on Monday, Jan. 12, 2026, in Rockford, Ill. (WIFR News/Pool Photo via AP)