Drug mule’s gross tactic
POLICE SAY WOMAN HAD PELLETS INSIDE HER
POLICE have revealed the disgusting and potentially deadly lengths a foreign woman allegedly went to in order to smuggle nearly 1kg of cocaine into Australia.
An Austrian woman was charged by the Australian Federal Police (AFP) on Sunday after she was allegedly busted concealing an illegal drug in her body. Police allege the woman, 27, ingested 124 pills filled with cocaine before travelling to Perth. She is alleged to have excreted eight of the pills and swallowed them again during her journey to Western Australia.
Australian Border Force officers stopped the woman when she arrived at Perth International Airport on February 11 and examined her bags. They referred her to the AFP when they suspected the woman was concealing illegal drugs.
She was escorted to Royal Perth Hospital, where she allegedly excreted 124 pellets over two days.
The woman was discharged on February 13 after scans showed she was not hiding any more drugs inside her body.
She was charged with importing a marketable quantity of cocaine – an offence that carries a maximum penalty of 25 years in jail. She will remain behind bars on remand until she appears in court on March 10.
She was the third person charged in the past two months over the alleged importation of drugs concealed internally.
An Irishman was charged in December last year after police alleged he imported 120g of cocaine inside six Kinder Surprise capsules which were hidden in his body.
A few days later, a Portuguese man was busted when he allegedly concealed 1.6kg of cocaine internally during his flight to Sydney. AFP Commander Kate Ferry said it was concerning to see a trend of three alleged internal imports in only eight weeks.
“Anyone trying to move drugs across borders concealed inside their bodies is not only risking a substantial jail term but potentially a fatal drug overdose or permanent damage to their internal organs,” she said. “The photographs of the seized pellets of drugs after they’ve been excreted should also highlight to drug users the disgusting reality of how these illicit substances are transported across the world.”