editorial comment Well, it's easier and safer to catch woman drug mules than it is to trey to arrest terrorists. Bravo general. One more for Phuket!

Bali's police chief has declared an "all out war" on drugs on the resort island but insists the crackdown will not hurt tourism, because tourists will always be welcome in Bali and enjoy full police protection.

On Friday, a court in Denpasar sentenced Schapelle Corby, 27, to 20 years in jail for smuggling more than four kilograms of marijuana into Bali last year.

She had insisted the drugs were planted in her luggage in Australia and has lodged an appeal against the sentence.

General Made Mangku Pastika says Bali is a market for the illegal drugs trade, partly because of the demand by foreigners.

Tourists are often approached on Bali's beaches, streets and clubs by locals, including police informants, offering to sell drugs.

"It's an all out war," Gen Pastika told Reuters newsagency.

"We are not just blindly catching the small suspects and the petty offenders," he said.

"We are going after the big ones - the big bosses - locals and foreigners."

Gen Pastika says Bali welcomes foreign tourists.

"In fact we depend on them, especially the Australians, but please don't come with drugs to the island," Gen Pastika said.

Despite Bali's long association with marijuana, the chief of Indonesia's anti-narcotics agency, Sutanto, says the most common illegal drugs seized in Bali are heroin followed by ecstasy.

"Most heroin coming through Bali is from the Golden Triangle. Some stays on the island while the rest is in transit," Sutanto told Reuters.

Gen Pastika says it would be unrealistic to impose stricter checks at points of entry into Bali because that would irritate foreign tourists.

"How do you distinguish a trafficker with a tourist? This is where intelligence plays a key role. We are sharpening our intelligence and we work with international police so we don't make the wrong arrests," General Pastika said.

Police are also working to combat what Gen Pastika says are increasing cases of child sexual abuse by foreigners, especially in the northern and poorer part of the island, away from the famous Kuta beach area in the south.

Last year, a Bali court sentenced a former Australian diplomat to 13 years in jail after he was found guilty of lewd conduct with two teenage boys. The defendant, William Brown, committed suicide inside his cell not long after sentencing.

General Pastika says that despite the focus on foreign crime, the top priority for police is to protect foreign tourists.

"In return, we only ask that good people come to Bali," General Pastika said.

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