Drugs ‘mule’ close to death after bag he swallowed burst

A DRUGS “mule” on board a transatlantic jet was close to death, a court heard yesterday, after one of the bags of cocaine he swallowed burst in his stomach forcing the plane to perform an emergency landing at Shannon Airport.

At Ennis Circuit Court, counsel for Englishman David Avey, aged 45, Elaine Houlihan BL, said that “he was very grateful to be alive” after swallowing 14 bags of cocaine.

In court, Avey of Lindavista, Coto Bruce, Costa Rica pleaded guilty to importing cocaine and to the possession of cocaine for the purpose of sale or supply, at Shannon Airport on May 13.