A Canadian national has been arrested in Colombia after trying to board a flight to Toronto with a phony pregnant belly stuffed with cocaine, police say.
The tourist caught the attention of a policewoman at Bogota's International Airport who allegedly asked her how far along she was.
She reacted aggressively, which aroused the suspicion of officials who went on to search her.
This year, nearly 150 people were caught with drugs at Bogota's airport.
About a third of them were foreign nationals, according to the Colombian authorities.
'Delicate touch'
The Canadian national had entered Colombia at the beginning of August and was about to board a flight to return to Toronto, when a policewoman asked her how long she had been pregnant.
"[The Canadian] didn't like the question, which made the official suspicious. Instinctively, she then very delicately touched the lady's belly, realising it was too hard and extremely cold," said the deputy director of Colombia's police anti-narcotics section, Colonel Esteban Arias Melo.
The woman allegedly said she was seven months pregnant.
After performing a body search, the police found two sealed bags stashed inside the latex belly, which contained 2kg (5lb) of cocaine.
Colombian authorities say the Canadian national will be charged with drug trafficking, possession and production and could be sentenced to between five and eight years in prison.
The drugs would have had a street value price of around $60,000 (?94,000), Colombian police said.
Government officials say 874 foreigners are currently being held in the country's jails, the majority on drug charges.
一名加拿大婦女企圖攜帶毒品登機時被哥倫比亞警方逮捕,特別之處在于,這位婦女“懷孕”的腹部是乳膠偽造的,可卡因就藏在她的“肚子”里。
據(jù)英國廣播公司等媒體9月11日報道,一名加拿大婦女煞費苦心喬裝打扮成孕婦攜帶毒品登機,卻被哥倫比亞警方識破逮捕。
哥倫比亞警方稱,在波哥大機場逮捕了28歲加拿大籍女游客塔比莎·里奇。她自稱懷孕,企圖攜帶毒品登機前往多倫多,但其隆起的肚子卻是乳膠偽造的,可卡因就藏在她“肚子”里。
她在波哥大國際機場引起一位女警官的注意,據(jù)說,女警官當時上前盤問她懷孕幾個月了。她回答說有7個月身孕,但反應過于激烈,進一步引起警官的懷疑,于是對她進行了搜查。
據(jù)哥倫比亞官方稱,今年波哥大機場有近150人因走私毒品被捕,他們當中有三分之一是外國人。
里奇8月6日進入哥倫比亞,被捕時她正打算登機返回多倫多,不料遭到一位女警官的盤問:你懷孕幾個月了?
“(這個女子)不喜歡這個問題,這讓女警官生疑。她出于直覺輕輕摸了摸這位女士的腹部,發(fā)現(xiàn)她的腹部太硬,而且極度冰冷,”哥倫比亞警方緝毒司副司長埃斯特萬·阿里亞斯·梅洛(Esteban Arias Melo)上校說。
警察對她搜身后發(fā)現(xiàn),兩個密封的袋子就藏在“乳膠肚”里,袋子里裝有2公斤重的可卡因,在街頭黑市上價值6萬美元(約合37萬元人民幣)。
哥倫比亞官方稱,里奇將受到走私、持有和生產(chǎn)毒品罪的指控,可能被判處入獄5至8年。
政府官員表示,目前加拿大監(jiān)獄里關(guān)押著874名外國人,其中多數(shù)受到販毒指控。