A popular Thai DJ has been arrested in Bali over alleged visa violations.
DJ “Katty Butterfly” was taken into Immigration custody on Sunday afternoon at the airport as she was preparing to take a Lion Air flight back to Jakarta.
Her arrest was following a set at Kuta nightclub Boshe in the early hours of Sunday.
Head of Ngurah Rai Airport Immigration Surveillance, Hario Pradipto Wisnu Kencono, said that Butterfly was arrested by a team of immigration officers at a restaurant in Terminal 1C of Bali’s airport.
Butterfly, whose real name is Poltee Kattarey, has become arguably the most popular female DJ in Indonesia in the past several months.
According to Kencono, Butterfly did have a work permit in Indonesia, but the occupation listed on her IMTA (foreign worker permit) listed her as a dancer, not a DJ.
“She was working as a DJ. But written on her IMTA is dancer, so it’s a different job,” Kencono said.
The DJ is also accused of working in not just Bali, but also around the country, though Kencono says her permit, staring from last July, was just good for Jakarta.
“Her KITAS (permit) only applies to the Jakarta area alone, but she had already played in Bandung, Semarang, Yogyakarta, Surabaya, and finally, Bali,” Kencono said, as quoted by Tribun Bali.
Butterfly’s Boshe show in Bali on Sunday apparently coincided with her 28th birthday celebration and the show had been part of her “Spicy Tour” to promote a new track. What a memorable way to spend a birthday. Photos are still up on Butterfly’s Instagram account of the Boshe show.
And there’s also a video of her dancing at the Bali Airport when she arrived.
Kencono says Immigration is further investigating her case.
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