Man had 72 pellets of cocaine in belly

IRISH customs officials have uncovered a new form of cocaine-smuggling after detecting liquid cocaine pellets packed inside a smuggler’s body.

They have also discovered that cannabis is being trafficking through “swallowers” by an eastern European gang on flights from Spain.

The developments come as police at an airport in Brazil caught an Irish passport holder, identified only as PBK, who had ingested almost 1kg of cocaine in capsules.

Scans of his body show how his entire intestines were packed with 72 pellets of the drug.

The 20-year-old man was trying to board a flight from Sao Paolo to Brussels when police stopped him.

Brazilian police suspect he is Nigerian and using a forged Irish passport.

Customs officers here warned swallowers were taking a huge risk.

“It’s very dangerous. If the pellets burst they are dead — even if it’s just one, because the purity is high,” said a source.

He said they had seen a rise in swallowing this year and recently uncovered their first case involving liquid cocaine.

The Customs officer also said cannabis was now being smuggled this way.

He said the average quantity of cocaine swallowed is about 1kg in 100 pellets, each the size of a cocktail sausage. Customs once caught a man with 120 pellets. A kilogramme of cocaine is worth €70,000 in Ireland.