Man dies as drugs burst in his stomach

A British man has died and another man is seriously ill after cocaine packets they had apparently swallowed burst open in their stomachs, police said in St Lucia today.

Jason Rustid, a 31-year-old car mechanic, collapsed on a Virgin Atlantic flight while awaiting takeoff from St Lucia’s Hewanorra International Airport.

Rustid, from Manchester, was taken to a Castries hospital where he was pronounced dead on arrival.

Dean Nassis, 31, also a Briton, told authorities that both men had swallowed a number of cocaine packets and were on their way back to Britain, police said.

Nassis underwent emergency surgery and doctors removed 105 packets containing 10.5 ounces of cocaine from his stomach, police said.

Five had burst open. His condition and home town were not immediately available.

Authorities have not provided a cause of death in Rustid’s case pending post-mortem results.

Police said they were considering charging Nassis with possession of and attempting to traffic cocaine.

Lindy Ann Fedee, a 25-year-old hairdresser, of Castries, pleaded guilty today at the city’s magistrates’ court to cocaine possession. She was arrested on the same Virgin Atlantic flight.

Police said Fedee had 2.2 pounds of cocaine strapped to her body.