US National Hospitalized After Swallowing Cocaine Pellets

A US national who ingested pellets of cocaine in a bid to traffic them from Alabama to Saudi Arabia has been hospitalized at a Nairobi hospital.

In a statement, the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) said the suspect was taken to hospital by his friend after he developed serious abdominal complications.

“The suspect, Jarod Tyler Roberts, was on Sunday, February 16 taken to the hospital by his friend, and was admitted for examination after exhibiting symptoms of excessive drugging,” read part of the statement.

A doctor in the facility then alerted anti-narcotics detectives from DCI Headquarters who visited the facility to witness an endoscopy process on the suspect.

During the process, three pellets were recovered from the suspect's rectum, which tested positive for cocaine and weighed 57.98 grams.

“The doctor also confirmed presence of an extra pellet stuck in the suspect's small intestines, and medical help is being offered to have it removed,” DCI revealed.

The sleuths established that the suspect was temporarily residing at an Airbnb in Nairobi's Westlands area.

He was due to board Ethiopian Airlines at 6 PM on Sunday to travel to Saudi Arabia through Addis Ababa but he developed complications.

His travel and personal documents have been confiscated pending his recovery, whereafter he will face relevant drug trafficking charges.

Meanwhile, anti-narcotics officers based at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) on Tuesday afternoon seized suspected amphetamines from a shipment destined for Australia from Bujumbura, Burundi.

The discovery was made during a verification exercise at the DHL Cargo Shed in the cargo area, where tests on a whitish crystalline substance, found hidden in a carton and wrapped in yellow cellophane tape, confirmed it as a highly addictive drug.