A 31-year-old Nigerian national was arrested at M.R. Štefanik Airport in Bratislava on Tuesday, June 23, on suspicion – later proved to be well-founded – that he was smuggling drugs in his stomach.
Martina Kereková, spokesperson for Director General of the Customs Directorate, said the man, who is a resident of Spain, flew from Brussels via Prague to the Slovak capital. Preliminary swab tests taken from the man's hands, as well as of samples of his urine, raised suspicions that he was carrying opiates in his body.
A subsequent x-ray examination at Bratislava's University Hospital detected foreign objects in his abdomen. Within the next 24 hours, the man excreted 73 packages with a gross weight of 1,200 grams containing a brown substance that tested positive for opiates (heroin). The man now faces up to 15 years in prison. This is the second such recent incident involving a Nigerian. On June 9, a 34-year-old man, also flying via Prague, was found to have 700 grams of cocaine in his stomach. He has permanent residence status in Slovakia. TASR
Compiled by Zuzana Vilikovská from press reports
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