Crocodiles will be used to guard death row prisoners on an isolated Indonesian island as they “cannot be bribed”, the country’s anti-drugs chief has said.

Budi Waseso said humans were far more corruptible than the ancient river predator and that he would travel to different crocodile farms across the country to find the fiercest breeds on offer.

He told local Indonesian news website Tempo: “We will place as many crocodiles as we can there. I will search for the most ferocious type of crocodile.

“You can’t bribe crocodiles. You can’t convince them to let inmates escape.”

Mr Waseso’s prison idea would require inmates to fend for themselves with only daily food parcels to help them survive on the island prison.

“We will keep sending them food supplies every day. But they have to survive on their own,” he said.

The plans have yet to receive approval from the country’s Justice Ministry but are consistent with the strict laws already in place to deal with drug traffickers.

In April this year, nine foreign drug traffickers including two Australians were killed by firing squad for trying to smuggle 8.3kg of heroin out of Indonesian island Bali.

British grandmother Lindsay Sandiford is currently awaiting execution after being found guilty of trying to smuggle cocaine into Bali by an Indonesian court.

The proposed location and opening date of the new prison are not yet known, according to AFP.

-Independent News Service