Suspects left Costa Rica with $80,000 in their stomachs

COLOMBIA – September 16th, 2012 – Colombian authorities arrested on Thursday a citizen from that country as well as a man from Venezuela, who carried $80,000 USD in their stomachs.

The men swallowed the bills in order to not be detected on their way out of Costa Rica, from the Juan Santamaria International Airport.

Each man carried $40,000 in their stomach, divided into 40 capsules, each containing ten $100 bills.

The men arrived in Costa Rica from Honduras on different flights, and were later expected to arrive in Medellin, Colombia where a woman was waiting to receive them.

Their nerves gave them away upon arriving in Colombia, and it was with an x-ray scanner that the authorities there were able to detect the capsules of cash inside their digestive systems.

The men stated that they were merchants, and that their final destination was the city of Cucuta.

The men were admitted into a clinic and forced to pass the money using laxatives to be placed into evidence. They have been charged with money laundering the proceeds from drug trafficking.

Costa Rica has become a transit point for drugs moving north as well as the illicit proceeds of drug smuggling being transported south back to Colombia or laundered in the country itself.