A man who was found dead and wrapped in foil in a ditch in Brecht, Belgium, in April has been identified as a 54-year-old Dutchman from Curaçao. His identity was announced on Tuesday, according to the Belgian newspaper Nieuwsblad.
The man had no visible injuries, but pellets of cocaine were found in his body. “It was a total of about 900 grams, and that is more than likely what led to his death,” says the Public Prosecutor’s Office of Antwerp.
Last week, a 53-year-old man from Rijkevorsel and a 38-year-old man from Lille were arrested. “The facts are currently qualified as drug trafficking resulting in death,” reports the Public Prosecution Service.
Pills containing cocaine have been used for years to smuggle the drug. At the airport in Zaventem, Belgium, people are regularly arrested for doing this. The idea is that the drug will automatically come out again via bowel movements after arrival, but sometimes things go wrong.
If such a pill breaks in the stomach, the consequences can be fatal. The video below shows a drug courier who ran into trouble. He was able to be operated on in the hospital in time.