Drug Smuggler Dies As Cocaine Capsule Explodes In Her Stomach

A Brazilian woman, who is acting as a drug mule and was said to have agreed

to smuggle 71 grams of cocaine to Europe in return for around £2,350, has

died when a cocaine capsule she was carrying in her stomach burst.

Deyse Ricarte, 28, was said to have recorded a distressing farewell video to

her family after a cocaine capsule she was smuggling inside her stomach

burst, causing her to overdose.

Police say she was carrying 71 grams of cocaine from Brazil to Portugal inside

dozens of pellets when one of them burst.

According to insiders close to the investigation, Ms. Ricarte flew from Belo

Horizonte in southeast Brazil on July 8 and was found dead at dawn the

following day in the Sao Pedro Hotel in Lisbon.

The autopsy into her death revealed that of the dozens of pellets she ingested,

one ruptured and caused a fatal overdose.

Daily Mail reports that a panicked Ricarte, who has an 11-year-old son, sent

the video from her Lisbon hotel room to a friend back home after she began

to feel unwell.

In the footage she can be seen patting her chest several times and breathing

heavily.

‘Do you think my face is swollen or is it normal?’ she asks the camera.

‘I think I’m going to die, my friend. Oh Lord, help me. My friend talk to

my mum and tell her I love her and my dad. I’m not going to make it.

God help me.’

Ricarte even sent a picture of the hotel’s business card to her friend so she

could raise the alarm.

Federal Police detective Ramon da Silva said those close to Ricarte are helping

them with their inquiries.

“We believe this is an international trafficking operation that could not be

done by just one person,” he said.

“(Deyse) appears to have had support in Brazil and Portugal. Our

suspicion is that the operation is based in Minas Gerais state because

the passport was recently issued there and picked up on June 22 and

she flew from Belo Horizonte (the state capital).

“We suspect she ingested the narcotic substance shortly before taking

the flight.”

He added: “Portuguese police are carrying out their investigations and

examinations which will be passed on to the Brazilian authorities.

“The Brazilian consulate in Lisbon is supporting the family with all the

necessary assistance.”