5 heroin traffickers return to Australia after almost 20 years in Indonesian prisons

The Associated Press

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Australia’s prime minister says five Australians who have spent almost 20 years in Indonesian prisons for heroin trafficking have returned to Australia under a deal struck between the two governments. Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the men had returned to Australia on Sunday as free citizens. Albanese thanked Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto for the men’s release. The five were among a gang of nine Australian smugglers arrested in the Indonesian tourist island of Bali in 2005. Two convicted ringleaders of the Bali Nine were executed by a firing squad in 2015, causing a diplomatic furor between neighbors Indonesia and Australia.