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)