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Drug Mule Swallowed More Than 600 Grams Of Cocaine For Flight To Australia

Drug Mule Swallowed More Than 600 Grams Of Cocaine For Flight To Australia

He was hoping to import 86 pellets of the white stuff until one of the bags ripped inside his stomach.

Stewart Perrie

Stewart Perrie

Drug smugglers have been trying for decades to get their product across country's borders. They've used elaborate and sometimes very simple methods to get the illicit substances into another country.

While importing it from A to B is always difficult, it's never as hard as trying to get it into Australia.

The Land Down Under has some incredibly strict laws when it comes to trafficking and they have systems in place to make sure they spot it before it goes to the dealer.

So instead of concealing it in shipping containers or suitcases, one man decided that his own body was the best vessel.

7News

Frenchman Adrien Lionel van Langenhove allegedly swallowed 637 grams of cocaine in little bags before his flight from Los Angeles to Brisbane. He was hoping to eventually let the bags pass through his body and then collect them in the toilet.

However, at sometime during the flight, according to 7News.com.au, one of the bags ruptured and ended up in his digestive system. It's unclear how much of the white stuff ended up being absorbed by his body.

He was held at Brisbane airport when a drug dog detected traces of cocaine on his bag however when officers couldn't find anything, they let him go.

Police say the 39-year-old then suffered some serious pains in his stomach and went to a chemist to help him pass the drugs. When his pain didn't subside, the pharmacist called an ambulance and van Langenhove admitted to hospital staff that he had swallowed a boat-load of drugs.

Australian Border Force

He spent the next few days getting rid of the bags, either through his backside or via surgery.

Incredibly, when it was all out, doctors recorded 86 pellets of the white stuff.

Medics alerted police and when he was discharged, he was arrested and charged with importing a marketable quantity of border-controlled drugs.

That was back in 2017, however van Langenhove has only this week plead guilty to his charge.

In court, his defence barrister explained that the Frenchman had got into a serious debt while working in Costa Rica and Guatemala. He promised people there that he could work off the $5,600 debt if he imported the large amount of cocaine to Australia.

He's already spent 619 days in prison but after pleading guilty, his sentence will soon be determined. The maximum prison sentence, according to the Australian Border Force, is 25 years.

Featured Image Credit: 7News

Topics: News, Drugs, Australia