Incredible! Nigerian swallows 1.5 kg of drugs during bus trip!

Incredible! Nigerian swallows 1.5 kg of drugs during bus trip!

On Tuesday, January 28th, a remarkable incident occurred at the Logebachtal rest area on the A3. Officials from the Cologne customs investigation office checked the FlixBus N 28 on the way from Amsterdam to Verona. Among the passengers, a Nigerian man caught the attention of the officials because of his nervousness and profuse sweating. A rapid drug test showed traces of drugs on his hands, but no suspicious substances were initially found in his clothing or bag. However, this was just the beginning of a surprising discovery, as [ksta.de](https://www.ksta.de/region/rhein-sieg-bonn/bad-honnef/bonn-kurier- swallowed-1-5-kilogramm-drogen-1063415) reports.

The situation escalated when the suspect was temporarily arrested and taken to Cologne-Kalk Hospital for an X-ray examination. There, doctors discovered that dozens of packages had been found in his stomach, a dangerous situation that posed an acute threat to his life. The packages, each approximately 4.5 x 1.5 cm in size, contained a total of more than 1.1 kilograms of drugs, primarily heroin and cocaine. Altogether, the foreign bodies in the man's gastrointestinal tract weighed over 1.5 kilograms. This quantity was classified as “record-breaking” by the customs investigation office, and public prosecutor Martin Kriebisch explained that this was no ordinary case. The defendant admitted that he had taken sachets without knowing what was in them.

The background to the offense

The man accepted this risky transport after a stranger offered him 2,000 euros. Born in Nigeria in 1975, he had the difficult fate of losing his parents when he was a child. He lived for a long time as a casual worker with no education and reached Europe via Libya after crossing the Mediterranean in 2013. Most recently he lived in Rome with his daughter and grandchild and worked there as a packer. After a flight from Rome to Eindhoven, he then took a bus to Amsterdam, where he apparently accepted the fatal offer.

Such cases highlight the growing drug trade in Europe. Even though the port of Hamburg is considered one of the main entry points for organized drug trafficking, the criminals' tactics are showing a worrying increase. In 2022, 14.4 tons of cocaine have already been seized in Germany, with Hamburg hosting the majority of it. Smuggling usually occurs via containers of legal goods, with drugs often hidden in bananas or other fruit and vegetable shipments. At many European ports, including Antwerp, which seized a total of 116 tons of cocaine in 2023, only a small proportion of incoming containers can be checked, making the fight against drug trafficking extremely difficult zdf.de reports.

Drug mafia and their tactics

The situation is further complicated by the international drug mafia. Recent reports show that violence in the drug trade is on the rise, with groups from Albania, Morocco, Serbia and Italy active in Europe. Although the massive drug discoveries are impressive, experts estimate that only around 10% of the smuggled cocaine is actually discovered. The value of illegal trade in the EU is between 7.7 and 10.5 billion euros - a sum that motivates fraudsters to develop creative and risky methods of transporting their goods, according to deutschlandfunk.de.

Overall, the case of the Nigerian man shows that the drug trade causes widespread social problems and human tragedies, while at the same time the authorities are under enormous pressure to stem the flow of illegal substances. The threat of a prison sentence of 2 to 15 years is only part of the bigger picture that characterizes the fight against drug trafficking in Europe.