Fed: Foreigners allegedly caught with illegal drugs in pellets

AAP General News (Australia)
02-18-2004
Fed: Foreigners allegedly caught with illegal drugs in pellets

Eds: Corrects man's age to 28 instead of 29, based on updated police information



SYDNEY, Feb 18 AAP - Two foreigners swallowed almost 200 plastic pellets filled with
suspected cocaine in a bid to smuggle the drugs into Australia, authorities allege.

But following their arrest at Sydney Airport on Saturday, the pair spent the next few
days in hospital - until they excreted 179 pellets of what was alleged to be an illegal
drug.

The men, who were returning home to Sydney, were arrested after flying in from the United States.

Customs officers allegedly found 21 pellets of what is believed to be cocaine in the
luggage of 28-year-old British student Adam Blaxter Paliwala (Blaxter Paliwala) after
sniffer dogs detected a scent.

He had flown in to Sydney with hospitality worker Benjamin Nicholson, 23, from New
Zealand aboard a Qantas flight from Los Angeles on Saturday.

Blaxter Paliwala was living in Balmain while Nicholson was based in Ashfield.

Customs handed over the pair to the Australian Federal Police who questioned them and
took them to hospital for internal tests.

"CAT scans confirmed they were carrying these drugs internally," a spokesman for the AFP said.

The pair was taken to hospital where they later excreted 179 pellets between them.

Customs said a forensic examination of the seized pellets was yet to be undertaken
to determine the exact type and weight of the drug.

Federal police charged both men with importing a prohibited import and they appeared
in Sydney's Central Local Court yesterday.

They were refused bail and are expected to reappear in court on April 7.

AAP sal/sd/tma

KEYWORD: PELLETS LEAD

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