Caught for carrying drugs, Bolivian dies in hospital

NEW DELHI : A 49-year-old Bolivian national, caught at the Delhi airport for allegedly carrying drugs, died at a hospital here on Saturday of suspected cardiac arrest.

Salomon Edgar Vacation Arambel reached the Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA) on Friday around 8.15am from Addis Ababa in Ethiopia, when the customs officials took him into custody for allegedly carrying drugs.

The police later said nothing suspicious was recovered from his belongings. He had a sixmonth tourist visa.

“We had received information from international agencies that the passenger was carrying drugs and he was taken into custody for examination,” a customs officials said on Saturday.

The official said that a judicial inquiry has been initiated by the police on behalf of the magistrate to ascertain the exact cause of death. The doctors have, however, pointed at a cardiac pulmonary arrest as the cause of death.

Delhi Police officials said they received information of Arambel’s death around 10.30pm at Medanta Hospital’s medical centre at the IGI airport’s terminal 3. He was, the police said, being taken back to the airport to return his belongings after a medical examination when he complained he was feeling unwell.

The police said the passenger was first examined by customs officials after which he was produced before the Patiala House court to obtain permission to conduct a medical examination. The permission was granted and he was examined to see if he was in fact carrying drugs in his body cavity.

During the medical examination at Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital, his x-ray was taken and an abdominal scan was also conducted where nothing was found. On his way back to the airport, at about 8.44pm, Arambel complained of feeling sick and was admitted to the hospital where he died, the police said.

DCP (IGIA) Sanjay Bhatia said the police started the inquest and will wait for the post mortem report to proceed further. “His belongings were checked and nothing suspicious was found in that. We have informed the Bolivian embassy and they will contact the family members of the deceased,” said Bhatia.

On Wednesday, in a similar incident, a man held by the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI), in possession of around 41kgs of foreign marked gold, allegedly committed suicide by jumping from their DRI building.