‘Narco pregnancy’: Woman tries to smuggle 9 pounds of pot in fake baby bump – National

One Argentinian woman trying to pass as expecting wasn’t expecting to be arrested on Wednesday.

A passenger en route from Mendoza to the city of Caleta Olivia was stopped near the Chilean border while travelling with a group.

The woman was trying to pass as pregnant, wearing a baby bump that turned out to be filled with drugs.

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Upon further inspection, it was discovered by officials that the “bump” was concealing nine pounds of marijuana, according to a statement released by the Argentine National Gendarmerie. (The gendarmerie is responsible for guarding the border.)

Photos shared to the gendarmerie’s official Twitter account show the suspect with her face blurred out, exposing her large false stomach.

A blue tank top hides the drug-filled package underneath, which is pictured on a scale in the second photo.

A government official is also shown standing beside the findings.

Among the group, the National Gendarmerie said, was another Argentinian citizen carrying packages of cannabis in his bag. Officials ended up seizing four kilos and 540 grams of marijuana in total that day.

Patricia Bullrich, the country’s minister of security, took to Twitter to address the incident, calling it a “narco pregnancy.”

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“She made a belly out of paste, hid 15 cannabis bricks inside it and faked a pregnancy before trying to take it from Mendoza to Santa Cruz,” she wrote in Spanish.

It’s around a seven-hour drive between Mendoza and Caleta Olivia, which is in the province of Santa Cruz.

Personnel from San Rafael were alerted to the possibility of the presence of narcotics at the local bus terminal where the alleged drug-smuggling duo were found, the statement reports.

Along with Mendoza provincial police, they made the discovery and the drugs were seized by the Federal Court of San Rafael.

In April 2018, Argentina and Chile’s police forces signed an agreement to work together to fight against organized crime.

Argentina has also teamed up with Paraguay to address their serious marijuana trafficking problems.

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meaghan.wray@globalnews.ca