Zurich: Police caught drug couriers with cocaine worth 170,000 francs in their bodies at Zurich Airport
Were the man and woman aware that they were risking their lives with this act? The so-called bodypacking, i.e. the intentional swallowing of plastic bags filled with high-purity cocaine in order to smuggle them illegally into another country, is deadly if the plastic bags burst due to stomach acid.
On Saturday, a 55-year-old man first arrived in Zurich on a scheduled flight from São Paulo. When the Uruguayan was checked, the suspicion arose that he could be a body packer. Further investigations confirmed the suspicions of the police. The man carried about a kilogram of cocaine in his body, wrapped in finger cots.
On Monday, just 48 hours later, a 24-year-old woman was spotted by the Zurich cantonal police at entry checks at the airport. A closer examination of the Brazilian, who also came from São Paulo, showed that she was also traveling as a body packer. Like the 55-year-old, she carried around a kilogram of cocaine in her gastrointestinal tract.
“A gram of cocaine is traded in Switzerland on average between 80 and 90 francs,” said Frank Zobel, deputy director of the Lausanne organization “Sucht Schweiz” the SÜDKURIER. The finds would have an average street value of around CHF 170,000.
In both cases, the police handed over the cocaine to the Zurich Forensic Institute (FOR) for a precise determination. After being questioned by the police, those arrested were taken to the public prosecutor’s office in Winterthur/Unterland. If convicted in Switzerland, they face imprisonment of at least one year and a longer ban on residence.