corby .. not the first

AN INNOCENT MULE

Steve, a Melbourne man, has no idea whether a baggage handler or someone else messed with his bag in 1997, but he knows what he found when he got to Bali: a bag of marijuana, the size of a loaf of bread, packed tight. For seven years this was a strange but historic relic from his travelling past.

And then came Corby. Steve and his wife went public, telling Channel Nine that on finding the drugs when they got to their Bali hotel, they called the Australian consulate for advice. They were told to flush it down the toilet. "If you get caught with that, mate, you'll be eating nasi goreng for the rest of your life," he says he was told.

Steve - who went public the day Ford appeared at Corby's trial - says he tried to flush the dope, but failed. He sprinkled it around the hotel garden. The Department of Foreign Affairs confirms the travellers did call the vice-consul. Steve is adamant there is only one place the drugs could have been planted: the airport. "The only time my suitcase was out of my sight was when it was on the plane and on the carousel at the airport."

What happened to Steve's bag once it left the check-in counter eight years ago will never be known.