A kilo and a half of cocaine in the intestines. The smuggler was detained in Prague
Customs officers from Prague Ruzyně Airport came across a suspected 35-year-old foreigner last Tuesday, when he arrived from Madrid.
“The customs officers were selected for inspection on the basis of the performed risk analysis of the given flight. The initial suspicions of drug smuggling by customs officers were confirmed by control smears from the hands of a smuggler with a positive reaction, “customs spokeswoman Šárka Miškovská informed about the case on Wednesday.
However, the man did not have any drugs in his luggage or directly with him, and a medical examination in the hospital using computed tomography (CT) followed, which confirmed the original suspicion. According to investigators, the foreigner had a drug hidden in his bowels.
Prague customs officers discovered a 35-year-old foreigner with cocaine capsules in his bowels after his arrival from Madrid.
Photo: Customs Administration of the Czech Republic
According to Miškovská, he had a total of 124 capsules filled with highly concentrated cocaine in his intestines. The man was gradually eliminating the capsules under medical supervision, the last of which came out late last week.
In total, customs officers weighed 1,429 grams of cocaine. According to Miškovská, the investigation into which market the drug was justified, ie whether it should have been sold in the Czech Republic or continued abroad, follows another investigation.
Customs officers also did not specify the nationality of the suspect, whose case was taken over by the National Anti-Drug Center with a proposal to prosecute the illicit manufacture and other handling of psychotropic substances.
According to a spokesman for customs officers, this was a unique case, the so-called swallows were last recorded in the Czech Republic in 2019.
A foreigner with cocaine capsules in his bowels flew to Prague from Madrid.
Photo: Customs Administration of the Czech Republic
The pause in travel due to the crisis around the covid-19 pandemic played a role, but the fact is that similar cases are usually annually in the order of units.
“This mode of drug transport is extremely risky, especially for the smuggler,” the spokeswoman said, adding that swallowed drugs were difficult to detect at the same time.
Cocaine in the suspect’s bowels revealed by hospital examination using computed tomography (CT)
Photo: Customs Administration of the Czech Republic
The risk for the suspect lies in the fact that if the capsule is broken in the gut, the drugs are immediately absorbed into the body, when there is a risk of almost certain overdose death in such an amount, usually in high concentrations.
According to customs officers, the foreigner had a total of 124 cocaine capsules in his bowels.
Photo: Customs Administration of the Czech Republic
Common modes of transport include, for example, double bottoms for luggage.