Pedro Alfredo Chongo hides his face under a scarf as he is escorted out of the High Court in Dar es Salaam yesterday after the drug trafficking case against him was adjourned.
A man swallowed cocaine with a street value of Sh76 million and smuggled it into Tanzania from Brazil, the High Court heard yesterday.
Pedro Alfredo Chongo, alias Salum Shaaban, had 90 pellets of cocaine in his stomach when he was arrested at Julius Nyerere International Airport, shortly after arriving on a Qatar Airways flight on April 4, 2011, State Attorney Veronica Matikila told Lady Justice Grace Mwakipesile.
She said the accused defecated the pellets on 13 occasions over five days.
Chongo developed serious abdominal complications after passing 65 pellets in a police cell at JNIA and was rushed to Muhimbili National Hospital, where he released 25 pellets.
“A day after his arrest he began complaining of severe stomach pains. Police took him to Muhimbili Hospital, where he passed more pellets,” Ms Matikila told the court.
Chongo was discharged from hospital after doctors confirmed that he no longer had drugs in his stomach. A sample of the substance passed by Chongo was taken to the Chief Government Chemist for analysis, and it was confirmed to be cocaine.
The accused was later questioned by officers from the Police Anti-Drugs Unit, and confessed to drug trafficking, the court heard.
But Chongo, a resident of Magomeni Mikumi, Dar es Salaam, denied trafficking in drugs and disowned forms allegedly signed by him, police and independent witnesses whenever he passed pellets of cocaine.
Chongo was travelling on a Mozambican passport when he was arrested. The document, issued in Mozambique, was tendered in court as an exhibit.
The prosecution has lined up 16 witnesses, while the defence has called up four.
The trial case is among nine high-profile drug cases the High Court started hearing in Dar es Salaam yesterday. It is a record number of drug cases to be heard in a single High Court session.
Observers view this as a move by the Judiciary to fend off accusations that it has been dragging its feet in the war on drugs.
