SHAH ALAM: A man from Peru swallowed 95 capsules containing cocaine worth over RM230,000 and made it to Malaysia before he was finally caught.
The 20-year-old mechanic was allegedly hired by a Latin-American drug cartel to smuggle the drugs to a third country.
Selangor police chief Comm Datuk Hussein Omar Khan said that based on information from Interpol, police detained the suspect at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) at around 8.30am on May 17.
"The man was behaving suspiciously prior to the arrest and we brought him in for an X-Ray which revealed objects in his stomach.
"We detained the suspect at the Cyberjaya Hospital for three days before he finally passed 95 capsules," he told reporters on Monday (May 20).
He said checks revealed the capsules contained 1.152kg of cocaine worth RM230,400.
"Based on our investigations, the suspect is believed to be a drug mule.
"We believe he was hired by a Latin-American drug cartel to smuggle the drugs to another country," he said adding that checks revealed that the suspect had entered Malaysia and was waiting for instructions from the cartel on what to do next.
He said the suspect was looking for a hotel to stay near KLIA while waiting for further instructions.
"We have remanded the suspect for seven days to help with further investigations.
"We do not have a demand for cocaine in Malaysia which is why we believe that the drugs were meant to be smuggled to another country," he said.
