Customs officials at Dulles International Airport say a Nigerian woman set an unfortunate record when she tried to smuggle almost five pounds of heroin into the country.
Authorities say 52-year-old Bola Adebisi ingested 180 thumb-sized pellets filled with heroin.
Officers became suspicious of her Saturday when she was questioned by border patrol officials after arriving on Ethiopian Airlines flight 500 which originated in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia and stopped in Rome, Italy.
She said she was coming to the U.S. to visit her brother, but couldn't describe him or say his address.
A routine pat-down following the questioning found her stomach to be abnormally rigid which set off mental warning bells.
An X-ray revealed the 180 pellets and she was taken to the hospital.
She stayed overnight in the hospital until doctors confirmed that she had passed all of the pellets.
In total, the heroin is estimated to be worth $150,000.
‘The amount of pellets and heroin this woman ingested is incredible, a serious health risk, and very troubling if these numbers become the new normal,’ said Christopher Hess, director of Customs and Border Patrol for Washington, D.C.
She now faces a felony drug smuggling charge.
The previous record for an ingested drug seizure at Dulles occurred last year, when another Nigerian was discovered with more than four pounds of pellets.
That time, the illegal stunt was done by a 46-year-old man and, for comparison, only involved 100 pellets.
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