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Alleged Venezuelan drug mule nabbed in Philippine airport

Xinhua, December 15, 2015 Adjust font size:

Philippine authorities have arrested a Venezuelan national who was allegedly an international drug mule, a senior government official said Tuesday.

Bureau of Customs Deputy Commissioner Ariel Nepomuceno said the 39-year old foreigner was nabbed at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 2 on Dec. 13 after yielding 92 pellets of alleged cocaine ingested in his stomach, weighing more or less 13 grams per pellet with a street value of about 6.6 million pesos (139,000 U.S. dollars).

The suspect identified as Andres Rodriguez arrived in Manila from Abu Dhabi on board Philippine Airlines PR 657.

The NAIA-Inter Agency Drug Interdiction Task Group (NAIA-IADITG) described the suspect as a "drug mule".

Nepomuceno said this type of courier is made to swallow balloons containing illicit drugs and then transport the illegal drugs across borders. Once a courier reached his destination, these balloons are retrieved from his body.

A drug mule can swallow up to 120 balloons. During his journey, he takes medication to prevent bowel movement. Once he reaches the destination, he is being fed with laxatives and the balloons are being released from the body. Endit