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Next time you plan a trip to one of Bali’s premiere surf breaks, make sure to leave the dildos at home. In a bizarre press conference on Tuesday, Bali officials destroyed cigarettes, illegal weapons, alcohol, and 27 prominently displayed sex toys. The goods had all been confiscated by the West Nusa Tenggara and East Nusa Tenggara Customs Office from passengers entering Bali from January to July 2023, and were worth approximately $221,650 USD.
In a video posted to Instagram, officials can be seen posing behind artfully presented contraband items. While there are the aforementioned piles of cigarettes, alcohol and sex toys, some standouts include a motorized dildo and a few rather large animal skulls. The officials then set about destroying the haul. Cigarettes were torched in barrels, bottles of alcohol were broken with hammers, and one clip appears to show an official cutting a dildo with a miter saw.
In 2008, Indonesia passed a bill that outlawed “pornographic acts and images,” with an incredibly broad definition of pornography that included “man-made sexual materials in the form of drawings, sketches, illustrations, photographs, text, voice, sound, moving pictures, animation, cartoons, poetry, conversations and gestures.” It also outlawed public performances which could “incite sexual desire.” The bill also recommends harsh penalties for those in violation of the laws, such as a four-year prison sentence for downloading pornography online. However, as Coconuts Bali reports, the law actually does not specifically ban sex toys, and the airport confiscations are a result of officials deeming them to be in “violation of cultural and religious norms.”
The public demonstration comes at the same time as Bali attempts to crack down on unruly tourists. In July, the Indonesian government announced that all international tourists will be charged a $10 tourist tax, starting next year. The money is to be used to preserve the province’s culture and environment.
