A 29-year-old Nigerian man with Italian nationality has been arrested in a joint operation at Punta Cana International Airport, the Dominican Republic, during an attempt to smuggle narcotics to Paris, France by ingesting them.

The arrest was carried out by agents from the National Directorate of Drug Control (DNCD) and members of the Specialized Airport Security Corps (CESAC), in coordination with the Public Prosecutor’s Office.

The Directorate in a statement on Thursday, August 15, 2024, said that the suspect was intercepted in the boarding area of the terminal.

Following standard protocols, foreign bodies were detected in his digestive tract.

He was immediately transferred to a local health centre, where specialist doctors oversaw the process of extracting the concealed substances.

Medical professionals recovered a total of 72 pellets from the man’s stomach, believed to contain cocaine. The seized substance weighs approximately 1.361 kilograms (2.99 pounds).

The Public Prosecutor’s Office and the DNCD have launched an investigation to determine if other individuals were involved in this thwarted international drug trafficking operation.

Meanwhile, the foreign national is being transferred to the Permanent Care jurisdiction of La Altagracia province for further legal proceedings.

As part of the ongoing investigation, the 72 bags were sent to the National Institute of Forensic Sciences (INACIF) for detailed analysis and confirmation of the substance’s composition.