Thirsty haul for drug mules
2002-07-31 11:52
Cape Town - Comfortable it is definitely not, but the practice of swallowing condoms filled with heroine or cocaine is a common way of smuggling illegal drugs over country borders everywhere.
Although this smuggling method means that couriers or "drug mules" cannot eat or drink at all on overseas flights, up to 2kg of drugs can be transported in one person's stomach in this way.
This was said by experts after the death of a drug courier last week at Groote Schuur Hospital from a massive overdose of cocaine or heroine.
The man - presumably from Brown's Farm, Philippi - allegedly swallowed four condoms filled with banned substances. The contents of two of them had leaked in his stomach after gastric juices ate away at the condoms. The Cape Town state laboratory still has to complete tests that will indicate what drug was in the condoms.
Dr Denise Lourens of the department of forensic medicine at the University of Cape Town said it was only the second time of which she was aware that the condom in which the drug were transported had broken.
Lourens conducted a post mortem on a Nigerian man who died in Pollsmoor Prison after a cocaine overdose. The man had swallowed two condoms filled with cocaine, one of which burst after a sip of ginger-beer.
"After his first sip of ginger-beer, he threw down everything and said he was on fire. He basically died in his steps because of uneven heart rhythms," she said.
Captain Johan Smit of the South African narcotics bureau said police had stopped a Peruvian man at Cape Town International Airport seven weeks ago. He had swallowed 72 condoms filled with drugs. None of them had burst.
Superintendent Casper Venter of the police's Cape Town forensic laboratory, said heroine and cocaine were often smuggled into the country in this way. The condoms were usually sealed with insulation tape, and were sometimes put inside balloons.
"The drug couriers have to practise swallowing these. We know of a case where one person swallowed 128 condoms - almost 2kg of cocaine."
Venter explained that these "drug mules" often drank fluids beforehand to paralyse their digestive system and make their stomach alkaline - especially for long international flights. Before they swallow filled condoms, the stomach has to be empty.
"The drug mules sit motionless during flights, and do not eat or drink. When they arrive at their destination, they go and sit in a bath or on top of a pot after drinking laxatives. The drugs are then rinsed in the bath and taken out of the condoms," he said.
Venter said it was easy to identify these drug mules on international flights - especially since they do not eat or drink anything.
Smit said there was often more than one "drug mule" on a flight. "In the Netherlands, 45 couriers were once found on one flight," he said. The condoms are each as big as a human thumb, on average, filled with about 10g of cocaine or heroine.
Suspects can be identified in several different ways - by X-ray, in particular. They also are taken to hospital sometimes and given laxatives so that nature can take its course.