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Smuggler gulps heroin capsules, hospitalised

Last Updated 26 September 2015, 03:45 IST

An Afghan was admitted to a hospital in south Delhi after he swallowed capsules of heroin. Doctors found 34 capsules wrapped in a polythene. Police have so far recovered 240 grams of heroin worth Rs 35 lakh in the international market.

Abdul Majid Malekzada from Kabul is undergoing treatment and will be arrested on charges of drug trafficking.

It is suspected that Abdul swallowed the capsules to smuggle heroin from Kabul to Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport.

According to police, Abdul was admitted in an unconscious state to Institute of Brain and Spine in Lajpat Nagar.

People with Abdul told the hospital authorities that he had complained of stomach pain.
“The X-ray and CT scan of his abdomen, however, revealed the presence of large number of oval shaped pellets in his gut,” said Deputy Commissioner of Police (South East) Mandeep Singh Randhawa.

On Wednesday, the hospital authorities informed local police. Abdul was kept under medical supervision as the doctors waited for him to eject the capsules by passing normal stool.

“Any effort on forced ejection of stool could be dangerous as rupturing of even a single capsule inside the gut could kill him. It could even be a lethal overdose of the drug,” Randhawa added.

Abdul was unfit for statement, but even after gaining conscious, he has not disclosed anything about the material.

A team of experts from the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) confirmed that the capsules contained heroin. Each capsule was 4-5 cms in size and weighed 20 grams. A case under Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act has been registered with Lajpat Nagar police station.

Abdul is being questioned about the source of the capsules. “He is also being questioned about his local residence,” Randhawa said.

It is the third such incident in Lajpat Nagar. The first incident was reported in October 2013 when 100 capsules containing heroin were recovered from an Afghan national.
In May, a kilogramme of heroin was recovered from an Afghan national with similar modus operandi.

“Further investigation will be taken up after Abdul’s discharge from the hospital,” Randhawa added.  According to NCB, professional swallowers or packers as they are called are known to ingest powdered drugs encapsulated in cellophane coverings, latex, balloons and condoms which help them evade detection by enforcement agencies at the international ports.  Some other traffickers, called stuffers prefer to stuff it in the rectum or vagina.

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(Published 26 September 2015, 03:45 IST)

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