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An Irish man has been arrested in Peru after 55kgs of cocaine was seized by police from the boot of a rental carCredit: Getty – Contributor
The trio were detained after detectives who had been tailing them intercepted a rented Nissan with suitcases containing the class-A drug.
The Irish national has since appeared in court and was remanded in custody.
The Bulgarian strongman has been described locally as a “key player in the drug trafficking industry” who police say was working with Irish and British criminals to smuggle cocaine from South America to Europe.
They were put under surveillance after entering Peru separately on July 21.
They hired an apartment in the eastern Lima district of La Molina, and rented a Nissan car to get around where they are said to have loaded the cocaine they allegedly wanted to smuggle into the UK.
Local reports said the Irishman’s legs buckled under him and he almost fainted when police pounced on the hire car.
A video of the arrest circulating online shows police stopping the rented Nissan car and discovering suitcases containing cocaine in the boot.
It has not been made clear when exactly the arrests took place.
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A number of local suppliers of the cocaine the Bulgarian was allegedly handing over to Irish and British traffickers are also thought to have been arrested.
The police force that held the men is the same one that arrested Michaella McCollum and Melissa Reid, the so-called Peru Two in August 2013.
Michaella, from Dungannon, Northern Ireland, and Melissa Reid from Lenzie, Scotland, were arrested on 6 August 2013 on suspicion of drug smuggling at Jorge Chavez International Airport after their luggage was found to contain 11 kilos of cocaine.
They initially claimed they had been coerced by an armed gang but subsequently pleaded guilty. On 17 December 2013, the pair were sentenced to six years and eight months’ imprisonment.
In early 2016, both women sought to return to the United Kingdom.
McCollum applied to be freed on parole and was released on 31 March 2016, with the prospect of having to remain in Peru for up to six years.
In April 2016 the Peruvian authorities agreed to expel Reid from the country.
She was released from prison on 21 June that year and immediately returned to Britain, arriving at Glasgow airport the following day.
McCollum returned to Europe two months later, arriving at Dublin Airport in Ireland on 13 August 2016.
She later wrote a book about her experiences titled ‘You’ll Never See Daylight Again.’
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Publish date : 2024-08-13 22:16:00
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