ABC correspondent faces drug charges in Singapore

The ABC’s New Delhi correspondent Peter Lloyd has been arrested in Singapore and is likely to be charged with a number of drug-related offences, the ABC reports.

A statement from Singapore’s Central Narcotics Bureau says the 41-year-old was arrested in the course of a follow-up search after the arrest of another man, a 31-year-old Singaporean.

Singapore police say Lloyd was arrested for possessing a small quantity of the drug ‘ice’, one improvised smoking pipe, and six syringes.

Police say his urine tested positive for amphetamines and he is being investigated for trafficking a controlled drug. If convicted, Lloyd faces imprisonment of between five and 20 years in jail and between five and 15 strokes of the cane.

A statement from the director of ABC News, John Cameron, says Lloyd is on leave in Singapore from his posting in New Delhi.

The statement says the ABC has not been told the full details of the case, but the organisation is in close contact with consular officials and is also taking steps to ensure Lloyd is given appropriate legal representation.

Lloyd joined the ABC in 1988, working in the Sydney television newsroom for three years before moving to Britain to work for the BBC and British Sky News. He returned to Australia and spent a decade in commercial television before returning to the ABC in 2000 and taking up a senior reporting role with television news and later with the national radio current affairs programs AM, The World Today and PM. He has also contributed to Foreign Correspondent.

Lloyd was appointed South Asia correspondent in 2002. He was due to co-host a new breakfast show on ABC2 television from later this year.

Source / Photo: ABC