Cops wait 3 weeks for swallowed cocaine

TORONTO, April 29 (UPI) -- The Royal Canadian Mounted Police say it took a suspected Toronto drug mule three weeks to excrete 76 tampon-sized packets of cocaine into a bedpan.

Hatim Gulamhusein, 48, was arrested April 7 at Toronto's international airport after arriving on a flight from Buenos Aires, Argentina, RCMP Cpl. Cathy McCrory told the National Post.

She said border agents are "very good" at spotting people who have swallowed drug packages or secreted them in their bodies.

Once in custody, Gulamhusein required six trips to a hospital for X-rays and CT scans, and refused to allow doctors to surgically remove the large packets, McCrory said. He did consent to taking laxatives, which she said resulted in a "24-hour bedpan vigil," the report said.

"The doctors said that if one of these became compromised inside him, there was nothing they could do for him," McCrory said. "We didn't need any more evidence -- he was pooping dope, so we were good to go -- but we were very concerned for his health."

He passed nearly two pounds of cocaine with a street value of about $100,000, the RCMP said.

Gulamhusein remains in custody and was to appear in court this week.