'Pregnant' cocaine smuggler caught
Canadian woman caught smuggling cocaine in fake pregnancy stomach.
(Web Desk) - A Canadian citizen has been captured at Bogota's International Airport while allegedly attempting to leave Colombia with two kilos of cocaine hidden in a fake pregnancy pouch.
Colombian authorities say Tabitha Leah Ritchie, 28, was preparing to board a plane heading to Toronto, Canada, but in a police pat down a customs officer noticed the belly was unusually hard and cold.
"The way she operated was to (try) fool law enforcement checks by faking a pregnancy," said Colonel Esteban Arias, deputy director of Colombia's antinarcotic police department.
Col. Arias said that the false belly was made of latex and was taped to Ritchie's body.
He added that Ritchie arrived in Colombia on August 6 from Toronto and he identified her as a social worker.
Col. Arias said it was the first time the authorities had seen that suspected method of transporting drugs, and that they were investigating who had made the fake stomach.
Colombian officials say 874 foreigners are held in the country's jails, most on drug charges.
