A man who passed out during an interview with U.S. Customs agents at St. Croix’s Henry E. Rohlsen Airport Tuesday was carrying more than 20 heroin pellets in his stomach.
Roberto Hernandez-Mota, a Dominican national, arrived on St. Croix on Dec. 5 aboard a Liat Airlines flight from St. Maarten, according to Geneva Alexander, Customs’ director of field operations based in San Juan.
During a routine entry interview with Customs agents, Hernandez-Mota was acting suspicious and was questioned further. During the interrogation, he became ill and passed out. Firefighters and Customs personnel revived him and he was subsequently taken to Gov. Juan F. Luis Hospital, said Alexander.
At the hospital, Hernandez-Mota was X-rayed and it was found that he had "foreign objects" in his stomach. The doctor on duty determined that it was necessary to surgically remove the objects, Alexander said. She added that the decision to operate was the physician’s call because of the threat to Hernandez-Mota’s life.
"All the Customs agents would do is transport," she said.
At approximately 1 a.m. Wednesday, the first of 22 1/2 "pellets" were removed from Hernandez-Mota’s stomach. About a half hour later the final pellet was removed and tested positive for heroin.
Alexander said the pellets, likely wrapped in a balloon, contained approximately 231 grams of heroin. Hernandez-Mota was arrested at 6:30 a.m. on Friday and turned over to the U.S. Customs Office of Investigations.
Alexander said it was unknown whether Hernandez-Mota passed out during the interrogation because of a broken pellet or if he was overly stressed.
"Internal carriers" of drugs, Alexander said, are becoming more common not just in the Caribbean but everywhere.
"It’s happening all over. It’s all very dangerous," she said. "Whenever you put something like that in your system it could kill you."