A drug mule has died in a Sevilla hospital after 22 pellets of hashish became lodged inside his colon.
The 51-year-old man died at the Virgen del Rocio Hospital on Monday after undergoing emergency surgery.
The victim, identified only by the initials A.L.J., was from Coria del Rio and had recently returned from a holiday in Morocco with his partner.
He began feeling unwell after arriving home and was taken to hospital by 061 emergency services during the early hours of Monday morning.
An X-ray revealed numerous acorn-shaped packages of suspected hashish inside his body, reports Diario de Sevilla.
Initial reports suggested that one of the pellets may have burst. Hospital sources later clarified that his condition was instead caused by 22 packages becoming trapped in his colon.
The blockage reportedly caused his intestine to perforate, allowing bacteria and other contents to escape into his abdomen.
Surgeons performed an emergency hemicolectomy, removing the affected section of his colon.
However, the patient later developed sepsis and suffered multiple organ failure.
He died several hours after the operation.
May have swallowed 40 pellets
Sources close to the investigation believe the man may originally have swallowed approximately 40 hashish pellets.
He had apparently begun passing some of the packages naturally before the remaining 22 caused the fatal obstruction.
His body was transferred to Sevilla’s Institute of Legal Medicine, where a post-mortem examination is expected to establish the precise cause of death.
Police are investigating the circumstances of the man’s trip to Morocco, the origin of the drugs and their intended destination.
Dangerous smuggling method
People who smuggle drugs inside their bodies are commonly known as human mules. The packages may be swallowed or inserted internally before being recovered after crossing a border.
The method carries an extreme risk of poisoning, intestinal obstruction, perforation and death.
It was frequently used to bring hashish into Spain in previous decades but had become less common as criminal organisations moved increasingly large consignments by boat through the Guadalquivir and along the Andalucian coastline.
In August, police arrested another 51-year-old man at Sevilla’s San Pablo Airport after allegedly finding nearly 1.5kg of cocaine concealed inside his body.
The drugs had been divided between more than 100 capsules.
That suspect had travelled from Guinea-Conakry and reached the Andalucian capital after stopping in Morocco.
Read more Andalucia news at the Spanish Eye.
