Knocked up then locked up: Woman is caught smuggling drugs in fake baby bump
The 27-year-old suspect was arrested on board a bus in the city of Cali after police discovered that she was wearing a latex belly, in which they found her to be hiding up to 5,600 individual doses of cocaine.
The unnamed woman is said to have travelled from Narino in south-west Colombia and had been passing through Cali to reach the capital, Bogota, when she was intercepted by police.
According to Colombian authorities, the sophisticated prosthetic bellies are purchased abroad by drug trafficking networks.
Warning of the fake pregnancy tactic, Cali Police Commander Brigadier General Carlos Oviedo said in a statement: 'These types of garments are used as costume accessories or disguises to simulate pregnancies.
'Drug trafficking networks are purchasing them abroad for approximately [£590].
'Once they arrive in the country, criminals replace the material of the fake gestational sac with illegal drugs and contact human couriers to arrange for the shipments to different cities in our country', he added.
She had up to 5,600 individual doses of cocaine inside her latex belly
Another official involved in the investigation told local press: 'This is a concerning new tactic.'
'These false bellies are not just props - they're part of a calculated effort to exploit human empathy and avoid suspicion.'
Investigators are now working to determine whether the suspect is part of a larger network operating along high-traffic routes between Narino and Bogota.
This is not the first time Colombian drug mules have been busted hiding narcotics in fake baby bumps.
Back in 2022, five women were arrested after cops caught one of them concealing cocaine in a fake belly.
Agents spotted that the woman was pretending to be pregnant while passing through security at Ernesto Cortissoz International Airport in the coastal city of Barranquilla.
The woman, who was traveling with the rest of the suspects to Bogota, was pulled aside for a secondary inspection.
Airport police detected several plastic wrapped bundles of the Type A party drug wrapped around her abdomen and placed her under arrest.
Subsequently, the flight was temporarily grounded at the gate, allowing officers to search her four female companions, who also had the cocaine packages over their bellies.
At least one of the women went inside the airplane's bathroom and removed three cocaine bundles before she was also busted.
In all, authorities were able to seize 14 bundles of cocaine and confiscated an unknown amount of psychedelic drugs that Contreras was in possession of.
Cocaine production in Colombia has been rising since 2013, according to the United Nations Office on Drug and Crime.
A report published in October by the international organization found that the cultivation of coca bushes increased by 10 percent in Colombia in 2023, while potential cocaine production increased 53% from the previous year.
While a 2016 peace agreement with the FARC rebels aimed to curb coca cultivation in rural areas, smaller armed groups have filled the power vacuum, actively promoting the lucrative cocaine trade.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Daily Mail
2 hours ago
- Daily Mail
Woman faces death penalty after allegedly making major mistake during trip to Bali
A woman accused of trying to smuggle $100,000 worth of cocaine into Indonesia by hiding the drug in a sex toy could face the death penalty. The 42-year-old from Peru, identified only as NS, was allegedly busted with 1.4kg of cocaine and 43 ecstasy pills at Bali's international airport on August 12. Radiant, Bali police's narcotics unit director, alleged the woman had hidden the drugs inside her underwear and a sex toy. 'The customs officers suspected her behaviour, and after consulting with the police, they did a further check on her,' he said. 'The narcotics were hidden in six plastic packages wrapped in black duct tape inside a green bra, three similar packages in black underwear and a sex toy containing drugs, which was inserted into her body.' The woman had flown Barcelona, Spain, to the Indonesian holiday island with a stopover in Doha, Qatar. Customs officials alerted police after she allegedly began acting strange. Police allege NS was paid nearly $30,000 to smuggle the drugs into Bali by someone she met on the dark web in April. Indonesia is known for its incredibly harsh drug laws and executing those who attempt to smuggle drugs into the country. The most memorable case for Aussies would be the firing squad deaths of Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran in 2015. The two Australians were part of the Bali Nine, a group accused of attempting to smuggle heroin out of Indonesia in 2005. However, Indonesia has upheld a pause on death penalties since 2017 after facing intense international criticism.
BBC News
10 hours ago
- BBC News
County lines gangs target vulnerable women in Highlands
County lines gangs are forcing vulnerable women into joining networks supplying crack cocaine and heroin to the Highlands and Islands, a senior detective has Ch Insp Craig Still said criminal groups based in major UK cities were sending associates north to co-ordinate drug told BBC Scotland's Scotcast that the suspects were often young men known for violent offences in their home abuse victims and a heavily pregnant woman have even had their homes taken over by gangs to store and sell drugs. Det Ch Insp Still said a dedicated team of detectives were working with officers across Scotland and England to disrupt the activity. The term county lines refers to the use of a single mobile phone number for ordering drugs. The phone line is operated by a city-based gang set up local bases in the areas where the drugs are being sold, often taking over a vulnerable person's home in an activity known as Scotland said there had even been cases of children being used to supply the Ch Insp Still said four "lines" usually operated in the Highlands and Islands at any one time. The gang members sent north to places, including Inverness, were often in their late teens or early 20s and usually have a history of violence, including gun are then found temporary accommodation by local "facilitators", sometimes forcing a resident out of their own Ch Insp Still said: "We find the groups tend to target women who may be addiction experienced, survivors of abuse, or may have been through the prison system for various offences."In a report to Highland Council earlier this month, Police Scotland said organised crime groups in Birmingham, Liverpool and London were among those behind county lines in the year, officers in the Highlands and Islands seized 6,300 individual deals of crack cocaine, 1,030 individual deals of heroin, and more than £30,000 in than 90 arrests were the report, the national force said it was working with its partners to disrupt gangs.
Telegraph
14 hours ago
- Telegraph
Ex-boxing world champion deported to Mexico over alleged cartel links
Julio Cesar Chavez Jr, the former middleweight boxing champion and son of one of Mexico's most revered fighters, has been deported from the United States over his alleged ties to the powerful Sinaloa cartel. Chavez Jr, 39, has been imprisoned in Hermosillo in the northern state of Sonora, Mexico, and is facing charges of arms and drugs trafficking. Prosecutors believe Chavez Jr acted as a henchman for the Sinaloa cartel – one of the world's most powerful crime syndicates that was designated a foreign terrorist organisation earlier this year. An arrest warrant was issued in 2023 following a four-year-long investigation. Chavez Jr was arrested last month by Immigration Customs Enforcement officers in Studio City, California, 10 miles north of Los Angeles, days after being beaten by Jake Paul, a social media influencer turned professional boxer, in an exhibition bout. Ronald Johnson, the US ambassador to Mexico and former CIA officer, shared a photograph on social media of Chavez Jr being led away by armed officers from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). Mr Johnson said Chavez Jr, a Mexican national, would 'face charges under his country's justice system'. 'This action reflects the strong cooperation between our governments, showing that collaboration delivers results and advances the security of both nations,' he wrote in an accompanying statement to the photo. Mexico's national arrest registry showed that the boxer was arrested at a checkpoint in the Mexican border city of Nogales at 11.53am local time and transferred to a federal institution in Sonora's capital of Hermosillo. Chavez Jr was wearing a black hoodie and red trainers, it said. Claudia Sheinbaum, the president of Mexico, confirmed news of his detainment at a press conference on Tuesday, commenting: 'I understand he was deported. I don't know if it was yesterday or this morning, but we were informed that he was arriving in Mexico.' The DHS has said that the warrant for Chavez Jr details his alleged involvement in 'organised crime and trafficking firearms, ammunition and explosives'. He was also said to have made 'multiple fraudulent statements' on an application filed last year for lawful permanent resident status that was based on his marriage to a US citizen alleged to have family connections with the Sinaloa cartel. In January last year, Chavez Jr was arrested in the Los Angeles area and charged with illegal possession of an assault rifle. Chavez Jr has denied all the allegations. He held the WBC middleweight title from 2011 to 2012 and is the son of Julio Cesar Chavez, the Hall of Fame fighter. His career has been overshadowed by controversies, including a suspension after testing positive for a banned substance in 2009. In 2012, he was convicted in a Los Angeles court of driving under the influence and sentenced to 13 days in jail. Later that year, Chavez Jr tested positive for marijuana after fighting Sergio Martínez, the Argentinian two-weight division world champion, and received a nine-month suspension. He was also fined about £666,000 by the Nevada State Athletic Commission.
