Travis James McLeod: Fremantle man jailed in Bali over meth behind bars in Perth after skipping WA drug trial

A Fremantle man who fled drug charges in WA to peddle psychedelics from a Bali villa is behind bars after arriving back in Australia. Travis McLeod, 46, skipped the State after allegedly being found with more than $25,000 of heroin and amphetamines in 2014. He was charged over the alleged discovery, and police allege he escaped to Indonesia soon afterwards, before his trial was due to begin in December 2015. His alleged offences include possessing heroin, cannabis, meth, dexamphetamine and MDMA, possessing a firearm/ammunition without a licence, possessing stolen or unlawfully obtained property and breach of bail. Mr McLeod’s movements over the past eight years were laid out in WA’s District Court on Wednesday by prosecutor Natasha Le Lievre, as she revealed he had been travelling “from country to country” and using Bali as his base before he ran into trouble in 2020, pictured top. In November of that year, he was arrested after police on the island found 10kg of kratom, a psychedelic substance derived from trees native to Asia, at his Kuta villa. A small amount of meth was also seized. The court was told the meth landed Mr McLeod in a Bali jail for several months and he then had to undergo six months of drug rehabilitation. After his prison stint, his visa was cancelled, and he arrived in Darwin on February 8 —his Australian extradition order having lapsed — before heading to Sydney. Ms Le Lievre said Mr McLeod was “about to go to Kuala Lumpur” with his 15-year-old son when authorities were alerted at Sydney Airport. He was arrested, the Australian Federal Police informed WA Police and an urgent extradition application was granted. Mr McLeod was flown back to Perth on Tuesday, pictured above. In court on Wednesday he did not apply for bail, saying he could not afford a lawyer to would seek Legal Aid. He will next appear in the District Court on February 29. The media widely covered Mr McLeod’s 2020 arrest in Bali, and he declared that kratom, which is illegal in 17 countries, including Australia, should “be made legal everywhere”. “It should not be vilified in such a matter,” he said. “Kratom is the answer to all the drug problems … all the ailments.” Mr McLeod previously ran a shop in Fremantle called Freo’s Finest, which became notorious for selling “herbal high” party pills. It also offered products such as shampoos and fake urine, designed to help pass drug tests. In an interview with a Perth television station in 2015, Mr McLeod said he had no qualms about what he was selling. “I totally believe I am (helping people); otherwise, I couldn’t do it; I couldn’t get out of bed every morning thinking I am ruining lives,” he said. “Whatever is found in my herbal highs are found in dietary supplements and found in plants and the food we eat.”