Man swallowed 177 tubes of coke
2006-01-01 21:31
Blantyre - A Tanzanian national who fell ill aboard an Air Malawi flight and was subsequently pronounced dead upon admission at a clinic had swallowed 177 tubes of cocaine, said police on Sunday.
Police spokesperson Rhoda Manjolo said that Abdallah Saidi Mohamed's three travelling companions were also revealed to be couriers for an international narcotics cartel.
The post mortem results said the cocaine powder - coming from tubes the size of a toe - induced high fever in Mahomed, who started vomiting 30 minutes after the plane took off from the South African city of Johannesburg bound for Malawi on Thursday.
He was taken to a clinic upon landing and pronounced dead.
Coke cubes 'inserted in anus'
Manjolo said: "We can confirm that Mr Abdallah Saidi Mohamed had 177 tubes of cocaine in his system, three of which burst."
Manjolo said the surviving three drug couriers had released between 20 and 30 tubes of cocaine, which they had inserted in their anus.
He said they would appear in court on January 6 on charges of importing dangerous drugs.
The contraband's final destination was not clear but, according to police, Malawi was normally used as a conduit zone.
Drug barons used couriers to hide the contraband in their bodies in exchange for thousands of dollars on successful delivery of the drug.
- AP