Drug swallowers ‘at bottom of ladder’

The agonising death of a drug ‘swallower’ on board a flight from Lisbon to Dublin highlights one of the more disturbing methods used by traffickers to smuggle narcotics by air.

Gardaí and customs officers say that many of those used in this fashion are typically “at the bottom of the ladder”, who agree, or are sometimes forced, to ingest and smuggle drugs as a “last resort” to earn money or repay a debt.

Sources said it is “very dangerous” for the person, given the risk of one of the ingested pellets bursting.