COKE SMUGGLERS RUN GHASTLY DEATH RISK

Drug traffickers from across Europe are risking their lives by
hiding thousands of pounds of cocaine inside their bodies and
smuggling it into Ulster.

The deadly drug is being wrapped in small pellets, which are either
swallowed or carried in the vaginal or rectal area, and then
trafficked into Northern Ireland via a number of potential air
routes direct from Europe into Belfast.

Customs officials have identified a key air route from Amsterdam
into Belfast International Airport that was being used by the traffickers.

Four seizures were made from that route in just over two months.

"Cocaine is being smuggled into Northern Ireland by air and stuffed
into the body. It is a serious risk to their health. If one of these
packets split they are almost certainly going to die," said
Assistant Director of Criminal Investigations at HM Revenue and
Customs, John Whiting.

Some traffickers on UK-bound flights have been caught with up to a
kilo of the killer drug inside their bodies.

However, there was a case in Scotland where a man was caught
internally carrying 200 pellets - two kilos.