Two men have been arrested in eastern China's Zhejiang Province for illegally smuggling drugs hidden inside their bodies, local police said Tuesday.
Police in Xiacheng District of Zhejiang's capital Hangzhou city received a tip-off on Jan. 23 about two drug-traffickers transferring via Hangzhou Xiaoshan International Airport. They caught one of them, surnamed Jiang, at around 7 p.m. Another suspect Jia was apprehended at the airport the next day.
Jiang and Jia excreted 72 and 57 plastic bags of heroin, repectively, at a local hospital, according to police.
Jiang said he was forced to swallow the drugs after losing more than 40,000 yuan (5,812 U.S. dollars) at a casino in Myanmar.
"People at the casino wanted me to transport the drugs to Xi'an in northwest China," Jiang said. "They bought my air ticket with my Wechat account and deleted my phone contacts."
Jia said that he was asked to carry the drugs by an Internet friend in Myanmar, who promised him 15,000 yuan profit.
Police warned that swallowing drugs in this manner could cause death.
Further investigation is underway.
