Woman Poses as Pregnant and Attempts to Smuggle Cannabis

[dropcap class=”kp-dropcap”]C[/dropcap]annabis and other drugs are more typically smuggled across borders in a more traditional fashion, smugglers have begun to seek out more unique and less conspicuous methods of transportation. Lately this is seen in the form of avocados or jalapeño peppers. Recently though, one Argentinian woman attempted to smuggle cannabis in the form of a false baby bump, and posed as a pregnant person.

The woman was arrested by Argentinian police on Nov. 13, according to Minister for Security, Patricia Bullrich. “NARCO PREGNANCY!” she exclaimed via a Tweet. “[S]he made a belly with glue, hid 15 packages of marijuana and simulating a pregnancy, tried to move it from #Mendoza to #SantaCruz. In a control of @gendarmeria we arrested the false pregnant woman and her accomplice.”

News18 states that the woman was carrying about four kilograms of cannabis pressed into bricks, which were hidden underneath a false baby bump belly. The belly was handcrafted using starch paste. The woman was traveling with a man on a long-distance coach to Santa Oliva, Petagonia (a small town nestled between Argentina and Chile) where they encountered a police checkpoint. The couple didn’t become people of interest until it was discovered that the man had two additional bricks of cannabis on his person.

According to LAD Bible, police recounted the experience. “Officers discovered a passenger was carrying two cannabis bricks in a black bag. A young woman was beside him who appeared to be pregnant. She was asked to leave the vehicle and it was confirmed she was also carrying drugs but no baby inside her.” Officers allegedly “probed” the woman’s stomach to reveal the total of 15 bricks of cannabis inside. This isn’t the first time that pregnancy has been used as a disguise to smuggle items across borders. In 2013, a Canadian woman attempted a similar guise while in Colombia.

CBD-based Medical cannabis is currently available in Argentina for patient consumption, through a law that was passed in March 2017. In 2009, recreational cannabis was decriminalized in small amounts, however no news has followed regarding progress toward recreational legalization.