‘Suspect caught at airport smuggling cocaine in his stomach’

AMMAN — Anti-Narcotics Department (AND) agents have arrested a suspect who reportedly attempted to smuggle cocaine into Jordan in his stomach, the Public Security Department (PSD) said Sunday.

Acting on information that the suspect would be arriving at Queen Alia International Airport (QAIA) on Saturday carrying drugs, AND agents detained the man upon his arrival and searched his luggage, but did not find narcotics, according to the PSD.

The suspect then confessed to hiding cocaine in balloons and swallowing them.

AND agents took the suspect to hospital, where 27 balloons stuffed with cocaine were extracted from his stomach through surgery, and he is now in good condition, the statement said.

Investigation into the case is still under way ahead of referring it to court.

In a separate case, AND agents received information on a South American suspect allegedly planning to drop off drugs in Jordan.

They arrested the suspect upon his arrival at QAIA and searched his luggage, where they found 650 grammes of cocaine hidden in small metal pipes in one of his bags, according to the PSD statement.

Further investigation revealed that two Arabs were supposed to receive the drugs from the suspect. AND agents located and arrested them and referred the case to court.

In previous remarks to The Jordan Times, an AND official said the Syrian conflict, the refugee crisis and turmoil in surrounding countries are to blame for the new illicit drug smuggling methods the Kingdom has been witnessing over the past four years.

In recent incidents, smugglers have resorted to using sheep, car tyres, biscuit packets, packages of sweets, olives, large marble blocks and children’s beds to hide illegal narcotics.

The AND official said the department is constantly following up on the latest methods of smuggling and taking “all leads and tips very seriously”.