Police in China's Macau recently arrested a Peruvian duo at the Macau International Airport for concealing drugs in their bodies, the Southern Metropolis Daily reported on Tuesday.
The duo – a woman surnamed Apontecornejo, who identified herself as a businesswoman, and her son, surnamed Floresaponte – excreted 54 condoms filled with drugs and an egg-shaped object from their bodies after they were caught.
The items, confirmed to be cocaine after laboratory tests, weighed a total of 1,945.85 grams, with a black market value of approximately 5.38 million Macanese pataca (US$670,000), amounting to 4.79 million yuan.
The female drug peddler admitted that she ingested three drug-filled condoms and concealed a larger egg-shaped drug capsule in her vagina on December 8 (Peru Time), as arranged by a drug smuggling gang, while her son swallowed 51 drug-filled condoms.
The duo flew from Peru to Spain and China's Hong Kong on the second day, then from the Philippines to Macau, where they were intercepted.
The woman claimed she owed 20,000 Peruvian soles (US$5,352) to debtors and committed the crime to repay the debt, receiving US$1,500 as travel expenses for her and her son. The son admitted to assisting his mother in committing the crime to settle her debts.
The drug smuggling gang uses Macau as a transit point to transfer drugs elsewhere, according to local police, who said they would trace the final destinations of the drugs and the whereabouts of other persons involved in the case.
Hong Kong and Macau police had previously cracked a number of drug smuggling cases through "body packing," according to the Southern Metropolis Daily.
