Indonesia is probably one of the last countries on Earth you would want to get caught smuggling MDMA into, but that’s exactly what British man Thomas Parker (allegedly) did, and is why he’s currently facing the death penalty in the country.

The 32-year-old was arrested outside his holiday villa in Bali earlier this year, having already been under police monitoring since entering Indonesia from Thailand.

Indonesian police claim Thomas is a member of an international drug smuggling ring operating out of Hungary and as such were already tracking him when a package was delivered to him on 21 January 2025.

That package contained just over a kilogram of MDMA, with just 5 grams of the narcotic being enough to get you the death penalty in Indonesia. Thomas allegedly tried to dispose of the package as police turned up outside his villa, but he was ultimately caught with it in his possession.

As per MailOnline, Thomas Parker has now given his side of the story, and claims that he did not know what the package contained when it was delivered to him. Obviously.

Thomas claims he didn’t order the package, and that it was sent to him from his friend ‘Nicky’ who he messages on Telegram.

The Brit says he last saw Nicky a few days before he was arrested, and that he wasn’t told or given any indication that the package that was delivered to him contained drugs.

However, he did concede that he knew that Nicky was a drug dealer, and so was naturally suspicious of the package and claims he initially tried to refuse to have it delivered to him.

He told the Bali court that he eventually relented and agreed to receive the package after Nicky assured him that the contents were safe.

Now we can’t categorically say whether Thomas Parker is talking rubbish or not, but it does seem weird that his buddy would send him a kg of MDMA without telling what it was or without agreeing some kind of business arrangement. Then again, who knows? Maybe this Nicky guy did royally screw him over, and sacrificed whatever one kg of MDMA is worth to make it happen, It does seem unlikely, though.

Thomas’s next hearing is on May 20, and if found guilty he’ll be put to death by firing squad. It could be quite the wait until he gets to that point, though. British grandmother Lindsay Sandiford has spent over a decade on death row in Indonesia awaiting execution after smuggling £1.6 million of cocaine into Bali from Bangkok.

Clearly, Indonesia does not play around when it comes to drug smuggling, and this is common enough knowledge that you would actually have to be incredibly stupid/desperate to even try. Just such an unbelievably big risk to take, especially when you’re already on the country’s radar.

Best of luck, Thomas, whatever happens.

For a look at what the girls caught with 35kg of cannabis at Birmingham Airport are up to now, click HERE.