At the Atlanta airport in '83 when I first visited the USA, I was perturbed to see someone's strewn toiletries circulating around the carousel. Stupid berk, I thought; fancy checking in a plastic bag. Later that evening, at my sister's house I realised that my toothbrush was missing from my backpack. As was the plastic bag.
In '98, 'Er Indoors and I took Our Kid to Medan to visit his gran for the first time. At the hotel I tried to open our bag to get at the urgently needed nappies only to discover that we couldn't unlock it. Why? Because we'd picked up a similar looking bag by mistake. Whoops, sorry. Ours was back at the airport.
Airport baggage handlers do not have a reputation for honesty, particularly in Sydney, where 13 people have been arrested in connection with an alleged conspiracy to import millions of dollars worth of cocaine into Australia.
Schapelle Corby is awaiting a verdict, probably on Friday, in her trial on charges that she tried to import 4.1kg of cannabis into Bali.
Corby's bodyboard bag was processed at Sydney Airport's international terminal on October 8 last year, the same day a Qantas baggage handler allegedly smuggled 10kg of cocaine out of the airport from another plane.
Before this particular case, I commented that I felt that Corby had been set up. After all, why smuggle marijuana into Indonesia where it is grown? It is common knowledge that both GAM and the military control the ganja trade in Aceh.
However, it may well be that Australian holidaymakers in Bali prefer their own home-grown; hence there is a reason for the smuggling. News has also surfaced that Corby's half brother and father have convictions for drug possession. This is, of course, circumstantial evidence as is much of the case against Corby.
I am somewhat bemused, however, by the tactics of Corby and her supporters ahead of Friday's verdict. Firstly, Australian businessman, Ron Bakir, was expected to apologize on Monday to Indonesian prosecutors for accusing them of seeking a bribe to ... avoid the death penalty. Bakir is reportedly paying some of Corby's legal costs. That shouldn't give him the right to interfere in the legal process.
And why has Corby written to SBY asking for a pardon? Isn't this premature?
Corby in prison
