Irishman held as 55kg of cocaine thrown from hotel

An alleged Irish drug trafficker has been arrested after two suitcases containing an estimated 55kg of cocaine were thrown from the eighth floor of a Spanish hotel.

According to media reports in Spain, the Irishman had checked into Valencia’s Hotel Tryp Oceanic just a few hours before the incident last Friday.

The local Las Provincias newspaper quoted unnamed sources as saying the man took the lift to his room on his own. There, he became paranoid, possibly due to taking drugs, about noises outside his hotel room. It is understood that, in his delirium, he believed there were other dealers coming to take the drugs. As he became more paranoid, he is alleged to have tried to hide packages of cocaine around the room, including in the false ceiling. He also caused damage to the toilet cistern.

At around 9.45pm, he then threw two suitcases of drugs from the window. They burst open after hitting the ground.

Staff in the hotel reception found the drugs and called the national police. In the meantime, according to Las Provincias, the Irishman regretted what he had done and went down to try to recover the drugs. However, he also managed to lock himself out of his room and had to go to reception to get another key. By that stage police had arrived and arrested him. Valencia’s Drugs and Organised Crime Unit is investigating