Teen arrested for 'coke' in Bali was carrying crushed painkillers all along
An 18-year-old teenager detained in Bali, Indonesia, has been released after a bag of drugs he allegedly possessed was found to contain only crushed painkillers.
Australian school leaver Daniel Murphy, was held in police custody for two days after security at Kuta's Sky Garden nightclub claimed they caught him with a bag of white powder early on Tuesday morning, according to ABC News.
Police suspected it was cocaine, but Murphy had no traces of drugs in his blood or urine. Tests of the white powder showed it was a mix of painkillers, cold medication and caffeine.
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Kuta Police Chief Wayan Sumara said Murphy was free to go on Wednesday night, describing him as "very lucky."
The teenager, who was new to Bali, was reportedly offered something on the street that would "make him feel good."
"He wasn't sure at the time ... He is a teenager. He wanted to know what it is," Sumara told the media.
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Murphy was on holiday with fellow recent high school leavers -- a spring break-style for many young Australians called "schoolies."
A re-enactment of Murphy being caught with the alleged drugs and denying they belonged to him was also released, which shows his rough treatment.
The club apologised for how its security dealt with the teenager in a statement Wednesday on Facebook, now deleted.
"Our company procedure is to simply hand over suspects peacefully to police if we feel they've committed a crime at Sky Garden," the statement reads, according to the West Australian.
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"We have reprimanded the security in question, and he will not be permitted to come back to work until he has completed and passed another round of police security training."
"We only want to add, that in his defense [sic] he was ordered to hold Jamie's face up so the police could take his photo related to the detainment; however, we too feel he used too much ‘excessive force,’ which is clearly unacceptable under any circumstances."
Walking out of a police station late on Wednesday, Murphy simply replied "yep" to questions from a waiting press pack on whether if he is relieved.
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Murphy is expected to fly home on Thursday with his family, who had flown up to meet him while he was still being detained.
