Swazi man found dead with heroin capsules in stomach
Swazi man found dead with heroin capsules in stomach
JAKARTA (JP): A 37-year-old Swazi national, found dead at a
hotel in Central Jakarta last week, was believed to have been
killed by a heroin-filled capsule that cracked open inside his
digestive system, a noted forensic expert said on Monday.
Senior forensic expert Abdul Mun'im Idries of Cipto
Mangunkusumo General Hospital revealed that the broken capsule
was found together with 52 other capsules of heroin inside the
stomach of Chinedu Donsin Ochia.
All of the capsules carried a total of 500 grams of first
grade heroin which was estimated to have a street value of Rp 100
million (US$12.500) here.
"One of the 53 packages cracked which unexpectedly caused
fatal damage in his digestive system," Mun'im told The Jakarta
Post.
He added that the broken capsule was still being studied.
Chinedu was sent to the hospital's morgue last Wednesday after
he was found dead in his room at the Andalus Hotel in Menteng
area by one of the hotel's employees.
Upon arrival at the hospital, evidence found in his body
showed that the Swazi died of a drug overdose, Mun'im said.
The other capsules were discovered after the hospital's
forensic experts decided to conduct a postmortem examination on
his body on Monday, he said.
According to Mun'im, Chinedu might have been able to survive
if the capsule did not break up. He would have retrieved the
capsules from inside his body when he went to the toilet later.
"The way to hide packaged drugs inside the body is dangerous
and very risky. Either the packages hurt our internal organs or
if it breaks up like what had happened to Chinedu, without
warning, it could suddenly kill the courier," Mun'im said.
Such modus operandi was rarely used by drugs traffickers from
Africa or other countries but is mostly practiced by drug
smugglers from Myanmar.
City police chief of detectives Col. Alex Bambang Riatmodjo
said they would further probe the death of the Swazi as witnesses
informed police that some people, including teenage girls, came
to his room a day before Chinedu was found dead.
So far no one has visited or claimed the body.
"We suspect that he's a member of an international drug
syndicate," Alex said.
The officer said that the country was no longer a mere transit
place for drug traffickers but a promising market destination.
"Many locals here are still consuming drugs and they don't
hesitate to spend money on them," Alex said. (emf)