The death of a person who transported cocaine in his stomach and was abandoned in a health center in La Rioja has been clarified

The Spanish Civil Guard, in the so-called “Eikel” operation, has arrested two men and investigated a third, as alleged perpetrators of two crimes against public health for drug trafficking and belonging to a criminal group.

These three people were in charge of receiving a shipment of cocaine from Colombia through a “mule” or “human mail”, who died in the Santo Domingo de la Calzada health center, in La Rioja, due to a break in the inside of his stomach of two of the 93 cocaine capsules he had ingested.

The investigation began on April 24, when the agents received notice of the death of a young man who had been abandoned at the Santo Domingo de la Calzada health center.The toilets could not do anything to save the young man’s life. Two of the capsules that he had ingested burst inside his stomach, causing his death.

Once the corpse was transferred to the Institute of Legal Medicine of La Rioja to perform the autopsy, it was found that the deceased was carrying a total of 93 high-purity cocaine capsules inside his stomach, which weighed 1,200. grams. Investigators have identified the three people who took the victim to the health center, where they abandoned her without any documentation.

Likewise, it has been determined that the 21-year-old deceased had been recruited in his country of origin, Colombia, to work as a “mule” or “human courier”, a name by which people who ingest drug capsules are known to introduce them. illegally in the country.

Arrival at Adolfo Suarez Madrid-Barajas airport

The two detainees and the person investigated traveled to the Adolfo Suarez Madrid-Barajas airport on April 24 to pick up the victim, who was traveling from Colombia to Spain with a stomach full of cocaine capsules. Once she landed, they put her in a vehicle to continue the trip to Vitoria, a town where they planned to extract the drug capsules for adulteration and distribution.

During the journey they decided to stop in the town of Santurde in La Rioja to rest, and the victim suddenly and unexpectedly began to feel unwell, so after taking the documentation from her, they left her at the Santo Domingo de la Calzada health center.Once the full identity of the deceased was established, the investigators were able to establish the itinerary followed until his arrival in Spain, as well as the vehicle in which he had traveled from Madrid to La Rioja. After analyzing all the information, it was possible to determine that the destination of the narcotic substance was the Basque Country, specifically the town of Vitoria, where two of the people who abandoned the victim were hiding.

The Civil Guard made two entries and searches at the Vitoria homes of the two detainees as alleged perpetrators of the events.  With the seized drug, once adulterated and before its release on the market, a total of 13,069 doses could have been produced, valued at 274,455 euros.

The operation has been carried out by the Organized Crime Anti-Drug Team -EDOA- of the Civil Guard in La Rioja and has had the participation of agents of the Rural Action Group (GAR).