Mexican Busted With Coke in Hat, Gut

Costa Rican police have charged a Mexican traveling through JuanSantamaríaInternationalAirport on his way to Guadalajara with smuggling 750 grams of cocaine, security officials said.

The 24-year-old traveler, with the last names Alvarez Villalpando, was carrying 44 capsules of cocaine underneath his baseball cap, and following medical examinations, police found another 19 capsules Alvarez had swallowed to smuggle aboard a plane inside his stomach, according to a statement from the Public Security Ministry.

Following the arrest on Christmas Eve by the Drug Control Police and airport police, Alajuela’s district attorney charged Alvarez with international drug-trafficking, punishable of up to 20 years in prison.