Australian dad Troy Smith faces life in prison after allegedly being caught with meth in Bali

An Australian father is facing life in prison after allegedly being busted with methamphetamine hidden inside a package purporting to contain lubricant in the tourist hotspot of Bali.

Troy Smith, from the city of Port Lincoln on the Eyre Peninsula in South Australia, remained in custody at a police station in Denpasar on Wednesday.

Lawyers for Mr Smith said the 49-year-old had attempted to escape police when they raided his room at Champlung Mas Hotel in Legian, near Kuta, last week at the start of a one-month vacation.

Sienny Karmana said Mr Smith’s panicked attempt to flee prompted the officers to fire warning shots in the air causing her client to become scared and fall over, injuring himself.

“They [police] shot in the air,” she said on Monday. “He [was a] little bit surprised and then he fell down and the police got him.”

Ms Karmana said as well as injuries sustained falling over, Mr Smith’s mental health was deteriorating in prison after he abandoned plans to front the media.

“Mentally he is not that good and Troy is saying that he is not ready to speak to the media. So, it’s best not to push him.”

Ms Karmana said her client was now fully cooperating with authorities.

Balinese police have charged Mr Smith with drug possession and drug trafficking, which carries a maximum penalty of life in prison and a fine of nearly a million Australian dollars.

Ms Karmana said she did not think Mr Smith would be sentenced to life in prison due to the small quantity and because her client was an addict.

Police have alleged they found 3.15g of methamphetamine in a tube of Colgate toothpaste sent to Mr Smith by a friend in Cairns in a package that claimed to contain lubricant.

Edward Pangkahila, another of Mr Smith’s lawyers, said his client’s friend had sent him the drugs as a thank you present after Mr Smith bought a car off him as “like a bonus” that was unsolicited.

“I will ask police to chase the sender of the drugs,” he said.

“Because what he send today is make my client suffer here.”

Mr Pangkahila said he was attempting to get Mr Smith, who arrived in Bali a week before his arrest, into rehab and said his client had been addicted to meth since 2020.

Mr Smith’s new wife Tracy attempted to visit her husband at Denpasar police station on Monday but was refused entry.

Wearing a Panama hat and clutching a phone and sunglasses, Mrs Smith, 31, declined to comment to reporters outside the prison. She was present during the arrest but was unaware her husband had been using meth.