Man hides cocaine capsules by swallowing them
THE STAR
Ruse seen through: Comm Abdul Ghafar showing an image of the X-ray of the South African man’s stomach where 60 capsules of cocaine were found.
GEORGE TOWN: A South African electrical engineer gambled with his life when he swallowed more than 60 cocaine capsules to avoid getting caught.
The 30-year-old from Johannesburg was spotted behaving suspiciously by the Penang International Airport police at about 9.30am on Saturday.
“He was taken aside and thoroughly searched but nothing was found on him,” said Penang police chief Comm Datuk Abdul Ghafar Rajab at the Hospitality Industry: Security Threats and Vulnerabilities dialogue yesterday.
“We then took him to the Penang Hospital where an X-ray examination revealed the capsules in his stomach.
“He passed out the capsules containing 810gm of cocaine in stages,” Comm Abdul Ghafar said, adding that the man arrived from Singapore.
Investigations showed that the South African was paid US$5,000 (RM20,414) by an international drug trafficking syndicate to be a drug mule.
What he swallowed was worth more than RM267,000.
“We believe that the drugs are for the international market as he initially travelled from Sao Paulo, Brazil, to Singapore before arriving in Penang,” said Comm Abdul Ghafar.
“He was using Penang as a transit stop for about five days before taking another flight to Bangkok.
“We believe he has done this a few times before,” said Comm Abdul Ghafar.
He said Immigration records showed that the man had entered Malaysia twice before.
The suspect has been remanded for a week pending investigations for trafficking under Section 39B of the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952.
Ruse seen through: Comm Abdul Ghafar showing an image of the X-ray of the South African man’s stomach where 60 capsules of cocaine were found.
GEORGE TOWN: A South African electrical engineer gambled with his life when he swallowed more than 60 cocaine capsules to avoid getting caught.
The 30-year-old from Johannesburg was spotted behaving suspiciously by the Penang International Airport police at about 9.30am on Saturday.
“He was taken aside and thoroughly searched but nothing was found on him,” said Penang police chief Comm Datuk Abdul Ghafar Rajab at the Hospitality Industry: Security Threats and Vulnerabilities dialogue yesterday.
“We then took him to the Penang Hospital where an X-ray examination revealed the capsules in his stomach.
“He passed out the capsules containing 810gm of cocaine in stages,” Comm Abdul Ghafar said, adding that the man arrived from Singapore.
Investigations showed that the South African was paid US$5,000 (RM20,414) by an international drug trafficking syndicate to be a drug mule.
What he swallowed was worth more than RM267,000.
“We believe that the drugs are for the international market as he initially travelled from Sao Paulo, Brazil, to Singapore before arriving in Penang,” said Comm Abdul Ghafar.
“He was using Penang as a transit stop for about five days before taking another flight to Bangkok.
“We believe he has done this a few times before,” said Comm Abdul Ghafar.
He said Immigration records showed that the man had entered Malaysia twice before.
The suspect has been remanded for a week pending investigations for trafficking under Section 39B of the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952.
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