Canadian woman arrested in Colombia for smuggling drugs in fake pregnant belly
A Canadian woman who used a fake pregnant stomach to smuggle two kilograms of cocaine has been arrested Wednesday at Bogota airport by Colombian police.
According to police, 28-year-old Tabitha Leah Ritchie, a social worker who arrived in Colombia on Aug 6 from Toronto, was arrested at El Dorado International Airport in Bogota while attempting to board a return flight to Canada.
It is reported an officer questioned Ritchie on how long she had been pregnant, to which she responded \’seven months\’.
"[The Canadian] didn\’t like the question, which made the official suspicious," said the deputy director of Colombia\’s police anti-narcotics section, Colonel Esteban Arias Melo.
"Instinctively, she then very delicately touched the lady\’s belly, realising it was too hard and extremely cold," he continued.
According to Colonel Melo, a latex stomach designed to simulate pregnancy was subsequently found strapped to Ritchie containing two-kilograms of cocaine.
The latex pouch contained 2 kg of cocaine, which could sell for some US$60,000 in Canada.
Authorities say Ritchie will be charged with drug trafficking, possession and production and could spend between five to eight years in a Colombian jail.
This year, nearly 150 people were caught with drugs at Bogota\’s airport.
About a third of them were foreign nationals, according to the Colombian authorities.
Source: Agencies
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