Heroin in condom swallowed

AN Iranian who swallowed a condom containing €30,000 worth of heroin was taken to hospital yesterday and given medication so he could “pass on” the evidence to gardaí.

The man, aged 33, was stopped by customs officials who became suspicious when he arrived on a flight at Cork Airport.

The Iranian disembarked off a flight from Amsterdam and was detained until gardaí arrived and arrested him.

He was then taken to Cork University Hospital where doctors made sure he would be able to pass the condom safely.

He was then taken to Togher Garda station where he was being questioned by drugs squad detectives.

The Iranian national, who has lived in Ireland for more than a year, was being detained last night under section 2 of the Drug Trafficking Act under which he can be detained for up to seven days without being charged.

About 200 grammes of heroin was seized and will be sent to Garda headquarters for analysis.

“The danger is that if the package bursts and leaks, the drugs would get straight into the system and that would be the end of the person carrying them,” said a drugs squad source.

He added that the use of heroin had become much more prolific in the Cork region recently.

“There have been six heroin-related deaths in Cork in the last 18 months. It is a cause of concern and additional resources have been allocated to the Cork City Divisional Drugs Squad,” the source said.