Australian journalist charged with drug trafficking and possession

[David]

SINGAPORE : An Australian journalist has been charged with drug trafficking and possession in Singapore.

 

41-year-old Australian Broadcasting Corporation correspondent Peter Lloyd was arrested on Wednesday.

 

Investigators believe Lloyd may have supplied drugs to a Singaporean who was arrested separately.

 

Central Narcotics Bureau (CNB) officers seized from him a packet of designer drug 'ice' or methamphetamine weighing some 0.8 grammes, one improvised smoking pipe and six syringes.

 

Reporters and photographers staked out the Subordinate Court for hours on Friday, expecting to see Lloyd turn up in court to be charged.

 

But that did not happen.

 

The CNB confirmed Lloyd was actually charged on Friday afternoon at Changi General Hospital.

 

That is because he is being treated for a serious eye infection which he contracted while on leave in Singapore from his posting in New Delhi.

 

Bail has also been offered to him, although CNB did not say how much the bail was.

 

Lloyd is due to appear in court again next Friday.

 

If convicted of the charges, he faces up to 20 years in jail and 15 strokes of the cane. - CNA/ms