Bolivian Man Held At Airport To Check For Drugs Dies In Custody

New Delhi: A Bolivian national died in Delhi due after he was held by customs officials on the suspicion of smuggling drugs. He suffered a cardiac arrest shortly after he underwent a medical examination requested by the officials.

The Bolivian man, identified as Salomon Edgar Vaca Arambel, 49, was intercepted by the customs officials at the Delhi International Airport after his arrival from Addis Ababa on Thursday, official sources said.

When the officials could not find anything after searching him and his baggage, they took him before a designated magistrate to get permission to conduct a medical examination on him. The officials wanted to check if Mr Arambel had hidden any drugs in his body cavity, the sources said.

After getting the magistrate's nod, his medical examination was conducted at the RML hospital, where an x-ray of his chest and lower abdomen was done.

Nothing suspicious was found in the medical examination, the sources said.

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When they were heading back to the airport to hand over his belongings to him, Mr Arambel felt sick and was admitted at Medanta hospital by customs officials. He suffered a cardiac arrest in the hospital and died there, they said.

The customs officials have informed the local police about the death, adding that an autopsy was conducted on the deceased and its report is currently awaited.

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The incident comes two-days after a Delhi-based jeweller jumped to his death from the building of the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI), where he had gone in connection with alleged gold smuggling case.

He jumped off from sixth floor of the DRI office at CGO complex here on Wednesday, according to a statement issued by the probe agency.