Two immigration officers in Indonesia’s holiday hotspot Bali may lose their jobs after being arrested for allegedly colluding with Russian nationals in a cross-border extortion ring that targeted foreign tourists through threats, assault and forced payments.
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The officers – identified as Ernest Esmail and Yopita Barinda Putri, both 24 – are accused of working with two Russian men to intimidate and extort travellers at dozens of locations across the island between January and July this year.
They were arrested in late July alongside the Russians – Iurii Vithcenko, 30, and Ilia Shkutov, 32 – following an investigation triggered by the violent assault of a Lithuanian tourist in Jimbaran on July 10.
According to Parlindungan, head of the Bali Immigration Regional Office, internal disciplinary procedures are already under way and the pair are likely to be terminated pending the outcome of the legal process.
“Following a detailed review by the police chief, there will definitely be an ethics hearing, and the sanctions will be very serious. Dismissal? That is certainly a possibility,” Parlindungan said in response to a reporter’s question on Friday, as quoted by local news outlet Kompas.
The investigation, led by the Bali Regional Police, has so far uncovered 27 separate incidents of alleged extortion and assault targeting foreign nationals across Denpasar, Badung and Gianyar. Police allege the group kidnapped victims and physically abused them, using threats of imprisonment or deportation to force compliance.