Indonesia deports Australian whose drug saga riveted nation

The head of Kuta police said he was taking measures to secure the streets around Schapelle Corby’s Bali home ahead of her much-anticipated return to Australia today.

Corby was escorted by officials to a Virgin flight to Brisbane on Saturday, May 27.

Convicted Australian drug smuggler Schapelle Corby arrives at the parole offices in Denpasar to sign papers before being deported today from Ngurah Rai International Airport, Bali, back to Australia.

Schapelle Corby arrives at Denpasar airport a free woman amid a media frenzy.

Corby’s mother, Rosleigh Rose, has repeatedly claimed Australian Federal Police and government withheld proof of her daughter’s innocence.

Australian media have been camped outside the villa for the past two weeks, attempting to catch a glimpse of the elusive Corby.

Once she landed in Brisbane her security staff threw another wobbly with two motorcades departing the airport in opposite directions.

Former Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono granted Corby’s clemency plea in 2012, reducing her sentence by five years because of good behaviour.

Ms Corby braved a smothering throng of photographers besieging her Bali villa to pay a final visit to the parole office on Saturday night – the first step on her long-awaited return journey to Australia.

She had a scarf around her head, wore dark sunglasses and carried a handbag with a picture of missing Australian boy William Tyrrell, whose family have reacted to her using his image.

A private auto entered the 39-year-old’s Kuta villa compound earlier to pick up Corby’s family members and take them to the parole office.

The family called for privacy as the convicted drug smuggler tries to settle back into life in Queensland.

“Australians became so besotted with the case”, said Janine Hosking, who made the documentary “Ganja Queen” about Corby’s case. “If it shines you they can see you with their lights”.

Her father, Michael, passed away in 2008 from prostate cancer.

Police Chief Wayan Sumara said Schapelle is not receiving special treatment, however extra police will be deployed for her departure.

“All that’s left is to sign some letters”, Pasaribu said on Saturday afternoon, after which she would be handed over to immigration officials at the airport. She wrote she pampered him more than any Paris Hilton pooch, until she reluctantly had to give him back to Mercedes because there were too many Muslims in her cell who couldn’t go near him for religious reasons.

In a statement released only to The Sunday Telegraph, William’s family said they had no prior knowledge that his photograph would be used by Corby but they were pleased about the intention.

She was released in 2014 but was required to remain in Indonesia for another three years to comply with her parole requirements, and has lived in the popular resort area of Kuta.