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KUALA LUMPUR: A Bolivian was arrested after he was found to have swallowed 94 capsules of cocaine.
City police chief DCP Datuk Muhammad Sabtu Osman said the 29-year-old, a suspected drug mule, had swallowed the drugs in Buenos Aires, Argentina, before taking a 23-hour flight to KLIA last Friday.
"A narcotics team from Brickfields led by Insp Mohd Sofian, acting on a tip-off, raided a luxury hotel room where the man was staying," DCP Sabtu said.
Purged pellets: DCP Sabtu Osman showing the capsules containing drugs that were recovered from a Bolivian drug mule.
"We also arrested a 37-year-old Thai woman who was in the room."
Investigations showed that the cocaine-filled capsules weighed 934gm, with a street value of RM300,000.
The woman was to take the drugs back to Thailand for distribution.
DCP Sabtu said each capsule was wrapped in three layers - the tips of rubber gloves, aluminium foil and then plastic. It was then tied with dental floss, he said.
"This way, the drugs are not damaged by the stomach acids," he said.
"It is believed that upon reaching here, the man was required to pass out the drugs," DCP Sabtu told a press conference at the city police headquarters here yesterday.
DCP Sabtu said the suspect was believed to have been paid US$5,000 (RM17,500) by a drug syndicate in Argentina and was scheduled to fly back to Bolivia in a few days.
Both suspects have been remanded until Saturday under Section 39 (b) of the Dangerous Drugs Act and, if convicted, face the death penalty.
Police are working with Interpol to track down the syndicate.
DCP Sabtu warned that this method of smuggling drugs was very dangerous.
In two other cases here this year, a man from Tanzania and another from Pakistan died after swallowing capsules filled with drugs, he said.
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