Ukrainian man who made drugs in Bali villa lab sentenced to life in prison

Roman Nazarenko, 40, became a suspect after police raided a villa in Bali in May 2024 and found a lab in the basement to grow marijuana and produce a precursor of the synthetic drug Ecstasy. As a fugitive listed by Interpol, he was arrested in December at Bangkok’s international airport while he tried to flee to Dubai.

Nazarenko, who argued during the trial that he was tricked into joining the drug ring but who prosecutors said was one of the masterminds, sat silently as a panel of three judges at Denpasar District Court handed down the verdict on Thursday.

“There is no reason to forgive or justify the defendant, he deserves to be punished commensurate with what he has done,” presiding Judge Eni Martiningrum said. “His crime could damage the mental state of the young generation.”

Convicted drug smugglers in Indonesia are sometimes executed by firing squad under the country’s strict drug law.

A Russian man identified by prosecutors as the overall mastermind of the drug ring, Oleg Tkachuck, remains at large.