Would-be smuggler had swallowed more than 80 plastic packages containing over $100,000

A 40-year-old Venezuelan man was sentenced to three months behind bars in Jamaica on Wednesday for attempting to smuggle US$103,500 concealed in 80 cylindrical pellets he had swallowed.



According to a statement from the police, Eddy Alberio Mancipe Ortega’s behaviour raised the suspicion of the law enforcement officers who stopped him as he attempted to board a Caribbean Airlines flight from Sangster International Airport to Trinidad on Monday, January 20. Ortega reportedly complained about feeling ill and was taken to the Cornwall Regional Hospital where he was admitted.

During a two day period, police say he excreted 80 cylindrical plastic packages which were found to contain approximately US$1200 each. A total of US$103,500 was recovered. The Financial Investigation Division (FID) was informed and a team despatched to investigate the matter. At the conclusion of the investigation Ortega was charged with four breaches of the Proceeds of Crime Act (POCA) and placed before the courts.



On sentencing, Resident Magistrate, Carolin Tie ordered that the money be forfeited under the cash seizure provisions of the POCA 2007. A deportation order was granted with immediate effect, since Ortega had been in custody for eight months. “This is the first instance that we have found cash being smuggled from Jamaica in such a fashion, it is indicative of how far persons will go in an effort to evade detection by Law Enforcement tasked with combating money laundering”, Justin Felice the Chief Technical Director at FID said.