JAKARTA, March 28 (Reuters) - An Australian man accused of smuggling more than 28 kg of heroin from Indonesia to his home country has been arrested in central Java, Indonesian police said on Friday.
Jose Manuel Xavier, 57, was arrested at the airport in the central Java city of Yogyakarta on Wednesday at the request of Australian police, said national police spokesman Abubakar Nataprawira.
"Xavier is currently being detained for his suspected involvement in international drugs smuggling," he told a news conference.
Australian police in February seized 28.3 kg (62 lb) of heroin hidden in a piece of furniture imported from Indonesia and later alerted their Indonesian counterparts to Xavier's presence in the country, he said.
Police said Xavier, who faces life in prison if convicted of drugs smuggling in Australia, would also be charged with using ecstasy during his stay in Indonesia.
Police did not say if Xavier, who is married to an Indonesian woman, would be deported soon.
Australian police have been criticised at home for cooperating with their Indonesian counterparts in arresting suspected drug smugglers because they could face the death penalty if found guilty under Indonesian law.
Three Australians are on death row in Indonesia for drug smuggling. They are among nine Australians -- eight men and one woman -- arrested in the resort island of Bali in 2005 with 8.2 kg of heroin.
The Supreme Court earlier this month commuted death sentences on another three of the so-called Bali Nine to life in prison.
In a separate development, Indonesia's Supreme Court rejected on Friday a final appeal by Schapelle Corby, an Australian woman sentenced to 20 years in jail for smuggling 4.1 kg of marijuana into Bali in 2004, court spokesman Nurhadi told reporters.
Indonesia has defended the death penalty as a necessary deterrent in a country with a growing drugs problem. (Reporting by Telly Nathalia; Writing by Ahmad Pathoni; Editing by Alex Richardson)
